Monday, August 29, 2011

Heroes Chapter 1


“We all have a need for a hero in our lives”

Hero by Skillet:
I'm just a step away
I'm just a breath away
Losing my faith today
Falling off the edge today

I am just a man
Not superhuman
I'm not superhuman
Someone save me from the hate

It's just another war
Just another family torn
Falling from my faith today
Just a step from the edge
Just another day in the world we live

I need a hero to save me now
I need a hero, save me now
I need a hero to save my life
A hero will save me just in time

I've gotta fight today
To live another day
Speaking my mind today
My voice will be heard today

I've gotta make a stand
But I am just a man
I'm not superhuman
My voice will be heard today

It's just another war
Just another family torn
My voice will be heard today
It's just another kill
The countdown begins to destroy ourselves

Who's gonna fight for what's right?
Who's gonna help us survive?
We're in the fight of our lives
And we're not ready to die

Who's gonna fight for the weak?
Who's gonna make 'em believe?
I've got a hero, I've got a hero
Living in me

I'm gonna fight for what's right
Today I'm speaking my mind
And if it kills me tonight
I will be ready to die

A hero's not afraid to give his life
A hero's gonna save me just in time

Philippians 3 (NIV)
 7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, 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.

What is a Hero
 Webster: 
*an outstanding warrior or soldier
*a person admired for achievements and qualities 
*one that shows great courage
  Savior: one that saves from danger or destruction

Traits of a Hero:

Sacrifice
                      Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

Determination,  Loyalty,  Courage,  Dedication, Valor, Selfless, Conviction,  Focused, Perseverance, Bravery

Heroes of the Bible (Hebrew 11)
Able
4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
Enoch 
5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”[a] For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
 Noah
7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
Abraham 
 8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she[b] considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”[c] 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.
Isaac
20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
 Jacob
21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
 Joseph 
 22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.
Moses 
 23 By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28  By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
 Israelites
29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.
 Rahab
31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.[d]

 32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.

Our Need for a Hero
·      We are imperfect

Romans 3 
21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

We are:
§  Selfish, cruel, needy, liars, thieves, mean, lustful, messed up people.

Final Point:
·      “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” –Christopher Reeve


Monday, August 22, 2011

Intercept Part 3: When God's Will


Genesis 22:1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
   “Here I am,” he replied.
 2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
 3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
   “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
   “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
 8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
 9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
   “Here I am,” he replied.
 12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
 13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram[a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”

Main Point: God will provide for us in our time of need
     One big question that you have to ask yourself do you believe?
  God is not new to the whole providing thing he has been doing it for years
     A lot of the time His test are to prepare us for what’s up ahead for us

What is the will of God? (Book of Mark)
·      1:17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
·      4:40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
·      9:35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
·      12:30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
·      16:15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

Why is this important?
·      Because if we seek after God our needs will be covered

Matthew 6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

This shows that God knows out needs and His promise:
         If we seek after Him, then He will supply our needs (Jehovah Jireh)

Final Point:
·      But for His will to intercept with our needs we have to want to be used by Him.

New Series: Heroes

One thing that the world needs more of is heroes. The only problem is that we believe that we could never be a "hero" to someone. What we have to realize is that we all can be heroes if we follow after the greatest hero of all times, "Jesus Christ". In our new series, "Heroes" we will be taking a look at the greatest hero, his traits and life. Then we will flip the script and examine how we can become heroes and then finish out on how we can show others how they can be heroes in this world. Here is a brief overview of this 5 week series:


Week 1: We Need A Hero
Week 2: Here Comes Our Hero
Week 3: Heroes Are Made
Week 4:  I Am Legend
Week 5:  Who’s Next

Keep checking in week to week to see the notes from each week here on the blog and get the link to our podcast to hear it.
 

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Welcome to Needless Rd


There is so much in the world that we need less of!
  ·      Stress
  ·      Pain/ Sickness
  ·      Hurt
  ·      Gossip
  ·      Bad News
  ·      Worry
What the world says we need less of the things of God
  ·      Hope
  ·      Love
  ·      Peace
  ·      Joy
  ·      Faith
     o   This is the, “we can take care of our self mentality”
     o   Being able to admit we need help opens the door for God to work


Common Mistakes
·      When things get tough a lot of time we think we needless of God
·      We try to do everything we can while leaving God out
·      When we pray we really don’t think God can do what we ask

"how can we be less focus on the things of this world and stay my focus on jesus?"
·      The Bible is very clear that this is a personal choice. You need to pray and read God's word and serve your community in Christ. If you focus on trying to be less worldly, you will fail. That approach never works. Rather, you must displace worldliness with Godliness.

1 John 2:15-17 (NIV) Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father[a] is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
·      In this verse, John tells you to decide and then act. "Love not the world" and "do the will of God." How do you know what to do and what God requires of you?  Only by means of His Word.

2 Peter 1:4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
·      How are you going to find out about those "great and precious promises" if not through His word? These promises provide the goal of a Godly life. They give us hope and motivation to persevere and keep our focus fixed on the hope of the high calling of God in Christ.

Philippians 3 (NIV)
 7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage (kjv: Dung), that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, 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.

Things of this World by DC Talk
70 years is all we got
To accumulate goods that seem to mean a lot
For the first 20 years, you're off to school
Learnin' principles and learnin' the tools
To make lots of money, the ultimate goal
Gain the whole world and yet lose ya soul
Huh, humanism is on a roll
20 gets the the knowledge, 30 years to apply
And just 20 years left for askin' why
I didn't realize what it was all about
And, was there any use in this rigorous route because
 
Things of this world are passin' away
Here tomorrow, but they're sure not here to stay
Things of this world are passin' away
So lay your treasure above
And start to live for Him today

All done for self in this world will pass
And all done for Christ in this world will last
Sounds like a simple task...
But everyday life seems to get in the way
No time to serve, barely time to pray
Our focal points lost and we get tossed
In the wind, cold facing the cost
Of fallin' without stallin' or even callin' the Lord
While you were blackballin'
He was waitin' for you to see the light
And find for yourself, these things are trite

Our mind transforms a want to a need
A simple process that we call greed
Ya say ya like to have money, well I do too
The problem starts when the money has you
Workin' overtime to keep up with the pace
A lifestyle that you want to embrace
But it's 2 steps from where your needs are met
You're keepin' up with the Joneses, but your all in debt
Which will lead to stress, not meeting the bills
While ya sportin' a Benz with all the thrills
The domino effect's gotcha life in check
A temporary stitch and ya livin' a wreck

Don't lay up your treasures upon this Earth
They'll soon pass away
And all return to dirt

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Special Benefit

Connie Jean Guthrie- Bringus grew up knowing who Jesus was, but fell deeply in Love with Jesus giving her life to him a year ago. Jesus turned their lives around. Its funny now they minister to me, God loves everyone and uses all of us to serve him. Connie is married to Jody and has four beauitful daughters. Connie is currently battling a rare liver cancer and will being having surgery to remove 75% of her liver on Monday the 8th. Connie will be in Omaha for 3-4 weeks. I believe God puts people in our paths and says help carry your nieghbors burden and we should raise but on our armour and begin the battle.


On September 3rd we are having a bake/garage sale from 7 am- 4pm @ Journey Church @ 10 am that morning there will be hair cuts by donation and pony rides. If you have donations of any kind thats great if you dont thats okay just be praying. We have also set up a bank account in Connies name @ Bank Midwest.

Intercept Part 1: Needmore Rd.


Misconception: We need more stuff!

What is Stuff?
·      Human Relationships
·      Food
·      Money
·      Electronics
·      Titles
·      Worldly Knowledge/ Wisdom

Are these things bad? No
·      The problem is that they become idols in our lives and the purpose for our living. (Ex 20:4)

What do we need more of?
·      Grace
·      Mercy
·      Heavenly Relationship
·      Peace

Col 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

How do we switch our mindset from what we think we need to what we truly need?
      ·      Col 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
      ·      Need vs. Want
God knows what we need and sometime we think we know better

Final Thought: We must realized that the one thing that we need more of each and every day is God.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Weird View of Money


WEIRD – 5
A WEIRD VIEW OF MONEY

 This is the way to live like no one else according to info from Dave Ramsey. 

1.    Written Game Plan
2.    Act Your Wage
3.    Save Money
4.    Get out of Debt
5.                  5.  Give

TALK IT OVER

·      If someone looked at your monthly statements, what would your spending say about your heart?
·      What are some things you have learned about money that aren’t true?
·      What money habits will you modify to become weirder with your finances?