Armor of God #9 - Pray in the Spirit
Awake Us Now
Why does Paul connect prayer with the Armor of God? Because when we "pray in the Spirit," we have something that front-line soldiers have always longed for: the ability to talk directly with our "Commander-in-Chief!"
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Growing Gracefully: Infilling
Awake Us Now
Everyone who is a true disciple of the Lord Jesus has the Holy Spirit. But does the Holy Spirit have us? It is one thing to know the Living God and to know Jesus as Savior, but it is another thing to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit on a regular, daily basis!
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Growing Gracefully: Awake
Awake Us Now
God charges His disciples to "be awake" in all times and all situations. We are especially charged to be awake to God's Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20), the reality of spiritual warfare, and the signs of the times.
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Growing Gracefully: Prepared
Awake Us Now
Almost two thousand years ago, John the Baptist called people to repent and prepare for the coming Lord. Today, we are still called to have repentant hearts that receive and extend the forgiveness of the Living God, and to prepare fruit for Him in our lives!
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Dig Deeper - Acts Chapter 12: Herod's Demise
Awake Us Now
Herod Agrippa I Ruled 41-44 A.D. Grandson of King Herod the Great Imprisoned Peter during Passover in 42 or 43 A.D. He died before Passover of 44 A.D. Herod went from Judea to Caesarea following Peter’s angelic escape from prison. Herod was quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon. They joined together asking for an appointment with Herod requesting for peace as they depended on Herod for their food supply. From writings from Flavius Josephus “Antiquities of the Jews, Book 19” (Translator: Paul L. Maier) Josephus tells us that Herod met with the representatives...
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Growing Gracefully: Holiness
Awake Us Now
Holiness is a gift, offered to us in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But once God has made us holy, we are then called to pursue holiness in our lives!
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Growing Gracefully: Obedience
Awake Us Now
Growing gracefully in obedience is a response to the salvation God has worked in our lives through Christ Jesus. We are called to walk in obedience as a response to our faith in Jesus. Obedience is not necessary for salvation, but obedience is necessary! Join us as we explore Growing Gracefully in our relationship with Jesus Christ through obedience to Him and His Word. Obedience does not save, but neither is it optional. God desires not simply outward actions, but inner obedience to His Word. Pastor focuses on two important Biblical truths: 1. Obedience does not save - Jesus saves --Grace of...
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GOD ACTS! (Chapter 12) - He Proceeded to Seize Peter
Awake Us Now
God’s word brings light into our lives, gives us direction and points us to Jesus showing us where our hope and strength are found. Today’s story demonstrates this truth. Join us! Chapter 12 is about some of the persecution Peter experienced and we will look at Peter’s writings in 1 Peter in conjunction with this story in Acts chapter 12 for additional insights. THEN + NOW Persecution - Acts 12:1-4; 1 Peter 4:12-13 Herod Agrippa the First, encouraged by approval after arresting believers and putting the Apostle James to death, decides to arrest and imprison Peter. He has...
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Armor of God #10 - Keep on Praying!
Awake Us Now
"Prayer in the Spirit" is about taking time in the presence of the living God and allowing Him to nurture, nourish, transform, and renew our souls. It is not about "give me, give me, give me," but about "mold me, shape me, use me."
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Growing Gracefully: Training
Awake Us Now
Despite the most rigorous physical exercise and training regimen, our bodies will age and, eventually, die. But there is a training - training in godliness - that lasts into eternity. The spiritual diet we eat, the spiritual exercise we do and the spiritual training we choose affects our ability to grow graceful as Jesus’ disciples. Training ourselves for godliness has benefits for today, tomorrow and for eternity. Spiritual training is timeless. Train to be godly - Christianity is not a spectator sport. We can’t be a couch potato. We must be in training to be godly. This is training with...
info_outlineCommon questions on this age old topic:
⁃ Why is sin so tempting?
⁃ Why do I do things I don’t want to do?
⁃ How can I conquer temptation?
⁃ Where can I find strength to resist?
⁃ Why is this so difficult?
Genesis 3:1-7 - First sin in the Bible. But prior to sin, Adam and Eve were in a time of blissful innocence. A perfect creation, perfect relationship with God, perfect relationship with each other. No death, no sorrow, no pain, but that would change once sin came.
Who is the serpent in Genesis 3:1? We find the answer in Revelation 12:9 “The great dragon was hurled down - that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray.” Satan is a Hebrew word meaning - the adversary, the enemy. And the serpent takes on the form of a serpent.
We read what Jesus says about the devil in John 8:44 that the devil “was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
Satan’s Garden Strategy
⁃ Doubt God’s Word - Genesis 3:1 the devil says to Eve “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The devil plants doubt. Eve replies in Genesis 3:2-3 that they could eat fruit from the trees except not from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, lest they would die.
⁃ Deny the consequences - Then the devil replies in Genesis 3:4 “‘You will not certainly die,’ the serpent said to the woman.” The devil moves her toward denying the consequences.
⁃ Deify ourselves - The devil continues in Genesis 3:5 “’For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” We want to be in control instead of allow God to be.
Then we read in Genesis 3:6 “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her and he ate it.” From this we learn that temptation comes with:
Passion - I want things that I like and that look good
Pleasure - I want things that give me joy and comfort
Pride - I want to be in control
1 John 2:16 we read, “For everything in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - does not come from the Father but from the world.”
Our story continues in Genesis 3:7 “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made a covering for themselves.” They now understood good and evil, their eyes were opened to evil and they had shame, sorrow, loss, pain, suffering, guilt. Sin took away their blissful innocence.
What happened next? Then we read in Genesis 3:21 “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” What does this tell us? It tells us that sin brought death to an innocent victim - an animal was slain - and it shows us sin has a consequence - Sin must be paid for by an innocent victim - and this is a foreshadowing of the Lamb of God - Jesus - who would lay down His life on a cross for us, because we all have fallen for the devil’s garden strategy.
1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
Confronting Temptation:
⁃ Remember Jesus, who He is and what He did - 2 Timothy 2:8 We are to keep our eyes focused on Jesus
⁃ Resist the devil and he will flee from you - James 4:7
⁃ Run from temptation and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace - 2 Timothy 2:22
⁃ Replace our focus on the things that destroy with the things that build us up. We are not to focus on the things that are tempting, but rather we should focus on what God’s word says. Let His word take root in our lives because God’s word give us power and strength, direction and guidance- Psalm 119:11
⁃ Rely on the Holy Spirit who leads us to faith and brings to mind the teachings of Jesus - Romans 8:6
Pastor closes with a beautiful hymn that his mother taught him.
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