Courage in Changing Times

One of the most important ingredients to future courage is to remember God’s help in achieving past victories.
Our day to day activities, not just our dreams and desires, do more to shape our future courage, faith and faithfulness than anything else. Engaging with mediocre endeavors and negative people weakens our future and sets us up to succumb to discouragement.
Moses built an altar and named it “Jehovan-Nissi, meaning “The Lord is my banner.” We use banners or billboards to promote an image, message or a promise. The image with Moses arms raised holding the “rod of God” inspired the army to victory.
This image or banner became a mental model or visualization of victory for Joshua. From that day forward, when Joshua needed to have courage, he would allow the Lord to raise a banner in his heart and mind. VICTORY! FAITH! FAITHFULNESS!

Walk on the Water

Walk on the Water
How Jesus Increases Our Faith
MAT 14:14-33
A. The Lecture: An explanation. Responding to Need stretches our faith. Compassion taps the miracle working power of God.
1. The disciples wanted to avoid the challenge of feeding the people
2. Jesus wanted to show them that God can produce multiplication and increase from our willingness to offer to Him whatever we have.
3. The miracle of provision feed some 15,000 people with 2 fish and 5 loaves
4. The disciples saw the miracle first hand. A miracle of provision and increase.
5. There we 12 baskets full of fragments of the meal [one for each of the doubtful disciples]
B. The Lab: A demonstration. Jesus made them get into a boat and prepare to cross the lake.
1. He sent them on a “lab” to allow them to apply what they learning: “How God can produce multiplication and increase from our willingness to offer to Him whatever we have.”
2. Jesus stayed behind to have a time of prayer with God
a. Notice his priorities vs. the priorities of His disciples
b. Jesus was not concerned about how He would get across the lake
c. It is not that He failed to have a plan, He simply trusted God to get Him where he needed to be.
3. They encountered a storm and Jesus was not with them.
4. At 3:00am, Jesus decided it was time to go, but He did not have a boat, so he started out walking
5. In the midst of the small storm, Jesus came walking on the water
C. The Learning: A demonstration. Peter did something that no man had ever done.
1. This would not have happened without the experience of the miracle of provision earlier that day.
2. Peter had it in his heart and mind that Jesus is not bound by physical laws. For a moment, he tapped into the raw power of God and suspended his confidence in everything except God.
3. Peter walked on the water as long as he had confidence in the word “Come”
a. He began to sink when he focused on the circumstances
b. But Jesus was there to help him and rebuke him
c. How did they get back to the boat? The walked!
4. We would not have any reservations about the things we could do if Jesus was physically with us. Jesus was training His disciples how to operate by faith in His unseen presence and power.
a. From the beginning of His ministry Jesus knew that He would not be with them for long.
b. Blessed are those who believe without seeing. We don’t want to be like doubting Thomas.
D. The Lesson: An application. We too can “walk on water” in the circumstances of life
1. You can learn and gain confidence from the blessings and miracles that God has worked in your life
2. You can take the challenge to do the seemingly impossible (like feeding 15,000 people)
2. You can give to God everything He requires and receive everything you need in return
3. You can rise above the storms of life, and your fear of storms
4. You can get out of your little boat of comfort and complacency to do something extraordinary for God
5. You can overcome the doubts of others
6. You can take Jesus at His word when He says “Come”; suspend your fear, activate your faith
7. If you can believe all of this: You WILL go to a higher place of worship and realization of the awesome power of God.

The Power of Humility

Asking God requires a humble attitude

Asking God

The dynamics of how to ask God and obey His leadership in your life.

Seedtime and Harvest

Principle about sowing and reaping the blessings of God

Destined to Win, Part 1

Parable of Householder: Power of Balance

Matt: 13:52 (NLT)
Then he added, “Every teacher of religious law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as old.” 53 When Jesus had finished telling these stories and illustrations, he left that part of the country. 54 He returned to Nazareth, his hometown. When he taught there in the synagogue, everyone was amazed and said, “Where does he get this wisdom and the power to do miracles?” 55 Then they scoffed, “He’s just the carpenter’s son, and we know Mary, his mother, and his brothers—James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. 56 All his sisters live right here among us. Where did he learn all these things?” 57 And they were deeply offended and refused to believe in him. Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.” 58 And so he did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief.
This eighth and final parable in Matt 13 wraps up the teaching on the Kingdom of God that Jesus delivered. It was necessary that His disciples understand the difference between living in the reality of the Kingdom and simply living in the selfish decisions of life.
As with all the other parables, Jesus used commonly understood objects to teach spiritual truth. A householder is someone who owns or rents a home; a homeowner. Everyone understands the significance and obligations of being a property owner. People of the kingdom also have significance and obligations. These are not a burden, but a blessing.

Parable of Treasure: The Power of Value

Matthew 13:44 (Amplified Bible)
The kingdom of heaven is like something precious buried in a field, which a man found and hid again; then in his joy he goes and sells all he has and buys that field.
Matthew 13:44 (New Living Translation)
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.
Value is defined as: the worth, importance, or usefulness of something. The verb is definded as: to rate something according to its perceived worth, importance, or usefulness.
Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matt. 6:21) We follow what we value. We are going in the direction of what we value. We make our choices based on the value we place on things and people. We are driven by value, or the worth, importance, or usefulness of things natural and spiritual.

Parable of Tares: The Power of Challenge

Life brings many challenges and rewards. As people that follow Jesus Christ, we are a part of God’s kingdom, or the King’s domain. At the same time we are part of this present world with all of its possibilities and pitfalls. As people of God, we are not exempt from temptation and challenge. But we have God-given position, power and privilege that enables us to overcome negative circumstances. We also the power to avoid the counterfeit and embrace the genuine
The parable of the Wheat and the Tares shows us the power of challenge. Challenge is defined: A situation that tests somebody’s abilities.
When it is all said and done, we will be those that Jesus identifies in Matthew 13:43,
Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

3 Keys to Manifesting the Peace of God

Philippians 4 (New Living Translation)
6 Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. 8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.
INTRODUCTION:
Peace is one of those words that everyone understands in their own world of experience. When you hear the word “peace” what do you think about? Do you think about how you feel on the inside? Do you think about the status of relationships in your life? Do you think about the war in Iraq? Do you think about Jesus as the Prince of peace? Do you think about hippies, tie-dyed shirts and peace signs from the 1970’s (show peace sign)?
Peace is personal reality. Peace is a powerful revelation. But peace can be fragile and is often conditional. Peace is usually the benefit or result of doing something else first. Having peace and walking in peace with others requires faith and action. Above all, peace is a promise from God. It is a promise that you both deserve and need.
Last week we talked about how worry, in all its subtle forms, comes to steal away your peace. Today, we will learn how to manifest the peace of God at all times and under any circumstances.
This message will follow a simple three-point outline. We are going to learn about the:
1. Characteristics that Cultivate Peace
2. Roles that Release Peace
3. Modes that Manifest Peace