1 Timothy 6:6-7 NIV But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.
God’s Plan for the Church (The Body)
4 Pillars
Belonging
Part of the Body
Romans 12:4-5 NIV For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
1 Corinthians 12:12 NIV Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.
Purpose
Using our Gifts and Abilities
Romans 12:6-8 NIV We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
Transcendence
Allowing the Holy Sprit to be at work
Philippians 4:7 NIV And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Storytelling
Our Testimony to the world
1 Peter 3:15 NIV But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
Made evident by the Fruit of the Spirit
Galatians 5:22-23 NIV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
The Message
1 Peter 1:17-23 NIV
17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.
18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.
23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
Many people think the first step in growing closer to God is reading the Bible or Prayer
The Bible shows us David. His separation was a matter of the heart.
We must be willing to allow God to change our hearts
Jeremiah 17:9-10 NIV The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”
Zechariah 7:12 NIV They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord Almighty was very angry.
One or more signs of heart problems
Living in fear
Absence of joy
Angry or resentful
Always blaming others
Selfish
Reflection: Looking at our pool this morning…
It’s not the water that is the issue,. It is the pollutants that need to be addressed.
The Message
Psalms 51:1-13 NIVHave mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassionblot out my transgressions.
Too often we are like the Pharisee
Luke 18:11-13 NIV The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
The preparation
2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
Leviticus 11:32 NIV When one of them dies and falls on something, that article, whatever its use, will be unclean, whether it is made of wood, cloth, hide or sackcloth. Put it in water; it will be unclean till evening, and then it will be clean.
The Acknowledgement
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
We need the heart of the Prodigal
Luke 15:18, 20 NIV I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
His Purpose
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
Psalms 139:13-14, 16 NIV For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
The Cure
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Isaiah 1:18-19 NIV “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land;
Psalms 32:7-8 NIVYou are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
The Results
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
2 Corinthians 5:17-18 NIV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
The Preventative Maintenance
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.
Psalms 34:1-4 NIV I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. I will glory in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
Psalms 119:11, 14-16 NIV I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.
Romans 12:9-13 NIV Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Love in Action
Romans 12:14-21 NIV Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
Love’s Response to Conflicts
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.
Philippians 2:5-8 NIV In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
reconcile • \REK-un-syle\ • verb. 1 a : to restore to friendship or harmony b : to settle or resolve (differences) 2 : to make consistent or congruous 3 : to cause to submit to or accept something unpleasant 4 : to check (a financial account) against another for accuracy.
James 4:1-3 NIVWhat causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?
2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.
3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 NIV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
The flesh (5–7). By nature, we do not want to submit to others. The phrase “clothed with humility” reminds us of our Savior when He wore a towel and washed Peter’s feet (John 13:1–11). If we are submitted to the Lord, we will submit to His people. Humility leads to honor; pride leads to shame. The devil (8–14).
The devil is an adversary, not a friend; he is a roaring lion, not a playful pet. He wants to devour you, and you had better be on guard. Peter thought he was well able to defeat the enemy, so he did not heed the Lord’s warning (Luke 22:31–34).
Luke 22:31-32 NIV “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
The results were failure and shame. You can resist Satan by faith if you are wearing the armor and trusting the Spirit (Eph. 6:10–20).
The Message
1 Peter 5:6-11 NIV 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
James 4:6-7 NIV But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Matthew 11:28-30 NIV “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 6:25, 33-34 NIV “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? But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
James 1:2-4 NIV Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
The plan:
(1) “go to this or that city,”
(2) “spend a year there,”
(3) “carry on business,” and
(4) “make money.” The starting time is arranged (“today or tomorrow”); the city has been selected; but God has no place in the plans.
Note:
Planning is a good thing
Planning conveys wisdom
Plans are subject to change
God uses detour in life to assure our best destination
Proverbs 3:5-7 NIV Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.
” In the morning it covers the countryside; before noon it is gone. But some of James’s readers had been planning as if they were going to be here forever!
Jeremiah 29:11 NIV For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord , “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
Note:
It opens us to being receptive to the detours in life
Luke 12:35-36 NIV “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.
The fruit, or result, of righteousness is the outgrowth of righteousness in the heart. A truly righteous person will display certain actions and attitudes that confirm the nature of the heart: honesty, kindness, meekness, goodness, love, etc.
The wording of the NLT links the fruit to our salvation and the resulting Christian character: “the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ.” It’s Paul’s desire that the Philippian believers will show external evidence that they are truly righteous, that they will harvest what the Holy Spirit produces in them, that they will be “filled” with all that Christ’s righteousness yields.
The Message
Philippians 1:9-11 NIV 9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,
Note: First know that you ARE loved…
Ephesians 3:16-19 NIV I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
1 Thessalonians 3:12 NIVMay the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.
10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
2 Corinthians 5:10 NIV For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
Romans 14:10 NIV You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.
The Bema Seat
1 Corinthians 3:12-15 NIV If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.
11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
It is evidence of salvation:
Galatians 5:22-23 NIV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
It is what we are called to do:
Ephesians 2:10 NIV For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
It is what gives God glory:
Matthew 5:16 NIV In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Runners (1–4). The people listed in chapter 11 are the “cloud” that witnesses to us,
“God can be trusted!
Put your faith in His Word and keep running the race!”
When you read the Old Testament, your faith should grow, for the account shows what God did in and through people who dared to trust His promises (Rom. 15:4).
When you read the Gospels, you see the greatest example of endurance in Jesus Christ.
Romans 15:4 NIV For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
The Message
Hebrews 12:1-3 NIV 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverancethe race marked out for us,
Ecclesiastes 9:11 NIV I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.
James 1:12 NIVBlessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
Galatians 5:7 NIV You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?
2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Philippians 3:12-14 NIV 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. 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, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hebrews 10:23-25 NIV Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
2 Timothy 4:7-8 NIV I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
Faith is confidence in God that leads to obedience to God.
True faith is based on what God says and is demonstrated in what we do.
People with faith do things for God, and God does things for them.
Faith is not a luxury; it is a necessity. It is for common people and not just great leaders.
We need faith for worshiping (v. 4) as well as for working (v. 7), walking (vv. 8–9), waiting (vv. 10–12), and warring (vv. 30–34). In any area of life where you ignore faith, you will sin (Rom. 14:23).
The Message
Hebrews 11:1-6 NIV 1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
Psalms 33:6, 9 NIV 3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. 9 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.
Psalms 19:1-4 NIV The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
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.
Genesis 4:3-4 NIV In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
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.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
Genesis 5:24 NIV Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.
He had walked so far with God that God said you might as well come and stay at my house…
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.
Hebrews 10:35-36 NIV So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. Psalms 9:10 NIV Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
Psalms 34:5 NIV Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.
Most people understand hope as wishful thinking, as in “I hope something will happen.” This is not what the Bible means by hope. The biblical definition of hope is “confident expectation.”
The righteous who trust or put their hope in God will be helped (Psalm 28:7), and they will not be confounded, put to shame, or disappointed (Isaiah 49:23).
The righteous, who have this trustful hope in God, have a general confidence in God’s protection and help (Jeremiah 29:11) and are free from fear and anxiety (Psalm 46:2-3).
Remember:
Hebrews 11:1, 6 NIV Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 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.
Message Theme
Romans 8:24-27 NIV
24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?
25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
This is hope fulfilled
The Benefits of Christian Hope
Hope has lots of friends. It never lives alone. It comes with a happy company of other blessings and benefits. For example:
Hope Moves You Forward
The more you hope, the less you will reminisce. The more you long for the future, the less you will yearn for the past. Hope deletes regrets and underlines expectations. It will build you up, not drag you down…
Hope Energizes the Present
It is worth living today because tomorrow, the eternal tomorrow is so much brighter. Our problem is that we often see only the short-term problems but not the long-term solutions, which makes us more pessimistic than is warranted.
Hope Lightens Darkness
Hope does not deny or remove the reality of dark and painful providences. It shines a bright light into these valleys, however, and points to the sunrise at the end of them. But we don’t need to wait until heaven for hope to pay off. There are emotional, spiritual, and even physical benefits in the here and now. Expecting an event can bring as much benefit as the event itself. How much joy we are missing by not exercising hope!
Hope Increases Faith
Faith fuels hope, but hope also fuels faith.
As Hebrews 11 makes clear, hope and faith are very closely tied together, the one enlivening the other. Without faith, we cannot soar in hope, but without hope, faith will limp home. The greatest believers are the greatest hopers and vice versa.
Hope Is Infectious
Just as we can drag others down by our recriminations and moping, so we can inspire and motivate through our inspirational hoping. It not only encourages other sagging Christians, but it also affects depressed unbelievers who cannot help but ask a reason for the hope they see in us.
Hope Is Healing
The Mayo Clinic website links high levels of negativity and pessimism with increases in mortality, depression, stress, and heart disease.
Of course, pessimism is sometimes warranted and even healthy for us; we ignore warning signs at our peril. But many of us would get closer to health and balanced realism with less pessimism and greater optimism.
Hope Is Practical
Hope does not mean we just sit and wait for utopia to appear. When we hope for better days for the church, we serve the church. When we hope for the conversion of our children, we are motivated to share the gospel with them. When we hope for God’s blessing on His Word, we listen to it much more avidly. Hope produces action.
Hope Purifies
This inspires and motivates us to persevere to the end and to persevere in holiness:
Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. – 1 John 3:3
Hope Broadens the Mind
Unlike negative emotions that tend to narrow people’s outlook, potential, and possibilities, a positive emotion like hope broadens people’s minds and especially the range of possible actions they can conceive of in any particular situation. Hope makes people more receptive to ideals and more creative about producing their own. Scientists have found that students infused with a positive emotion such as hope literally see more; their peripheral vision is wider and sharper.
Hope Stabilizes in the Storm
Researchers have discovered that optimists “cope better in high stress situations and are better in high stress situations and are better able to maintain high levels of well-being during times of hardship.” Optimistic people seem to experience less pain and stress than their pessimistic peers and also tend to gain and grow more from trials.
There are forty-five drawings of anchors in one of the Christian catacombs, the caves and tunnels where Christians hid during the Roman persecutions. Hope was their anchor during those terrible, dark storms. Like the anchor, hope grabs what is out of sight. The cable of faith casts out the anchor of hope and lays hold of the steadfast rock of God’s promises.
Hope Defends
Paul also depicts hope as a defensive helmet that must not be taken off and laid aside until the battle is over. That image points us to the main area of vulnerability and danger – the mind or thoughts. That’s the key area in building up hope.
Hope defends our minds by helping us to hope, but biblical hope also protects by shielding us from unrealistic expectations.
To put it bluntly, Christian hope is not the same as the American dream.
Romans 8:28 NIV And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
