Speaker: Senior Pastor Bill Hayden

 1 Peter 2:21-24 New Living Translation (NLT)

21 For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered[a] for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.
22
He never sinned,
    nor ever deceived anyone.[b]
23
He did not retaliate when he was insulted,
    nor threaten revenge when he suffered.
He left his case in the hands of God,
    who always judges fairly.
24
He personally carried our sins
    in his body on the cross
so that we can be dead to sin
    and live for what is right.
By his wounds
    you are healed.

Mark 11:22-24 New Living Translation (NLT)

22 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. 23 I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. 24 I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.

Corinthians 9:6-12  (NLT)

6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

9 As it is written: “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.”

10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.

11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.
       
Application:
God is well pleased, when we give out of a grateful heart.
The reason we give is for God’s glory and the care of His people.

Psalm 32:7-8 New Living Translation (NLT)
7 For you are my hiding place;
    you protect me from trouble.
    You surround me with songs of victory. Interlude
8 The LORD says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.  I will advise you and watch over you.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 New Living Translation (NLT)
9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Application
Keys to Receiving the Word:
1.    Position yourself to hear from God by drawing near through reading, prayer, and fasting.
2.    Take your problems and questions (and those of others) to God.
3.    Be willing to accept what He says for your good.
4.    Pay attention to the unique way God speaks to you.
5.    Record what God is saying even with interrupted sleep.

Matthew 18:18-20 NLT

18 “I tell you the truth, whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.

19 “I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. 20 For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.”

John 4:23-24 NLT

23 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.

24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

Application:

We were created to worship and we worship that which we love.

To worship the Lord demands your full attention and focus.

What you Ingest on Saturday determines what you Digest on Sunday.

John 15:12-14 (NLT)

12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.

13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

14 You are my friends if you do what I command.

Application:

As a believer we have no other option but to love.

Real love causes you to be willing to lay down your life for others.

The effects of love outweigh all opposing forces.

1 John 2:15-17 and John 13:34,35 (NLT)

15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the
world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.  

16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are
not from the Father, but are from this world.

17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

John 13:34-35 (NLT)

34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.

35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

Application:

The things of God are eternal and irreplaceable.

We live to please God, no matter what the world does.

Your love for each other is the proof that you are disciples of Christ.

I Corintihians 16:4-8 (NLT)

4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud

5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.

6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.

7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!

Application:

Finding your lover begins by looking into the Word of God.

Finding your lover requires you to be open to the will of God.

Isaiah 41:10

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

Titus 2:12-13

12 And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God,

13 while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.

Application:

Staying focused on the prize determines your destiny.

Our greatest resources are revealed to us by God.

Galatians 5:13-21 NKJV

13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!

16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.

18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,

20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,

21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Application:

Walking in the Spirit requires you to be born again from the inside out.

Walking in the Spirit requires you to surrender your plans to God.

Walking in the Spirit requires you to be led by the Spirit and not by law or tradition.

John 14:12-14

12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

Application:

Believing in Jesus with my whole heart is everything, no matter how difficult or simple the task.