Who We Are, Where We Are Going

Pt. Dave Kenney

Eph. 4:1-16

ONE
We have a calling - God has a purpose for everyone's life, but we have a calling together..

It is to be His Body - His representative..

It is fulfilled in and through Love for one another

TWO
Each has a unique and special gift - God has a role for everyone to be played.
You need to take a chance to discover your uniqueness.

THREE
Equippers :
pastor - to train, motivate, encourage
teacher
evangelist
These people aren't the ones who's supposed to be reaching out.

Ministers

FOUR
Result - because the love of Christ, you need to go and reach out.
Impact

Take Three Steps
Step One : Love God
Step Two : Love Others - each other, that's how we start to reach out.
Step Three : Reach the World

Jesus replied, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." Matthew 22:37-40 (NLT)

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirt. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20 (NLT)

Receiving Guidance From God

Pt. Dave Kenney

Week 1 : How to Hear God Speak

1. Cultivate an open mind
2. Allocate time to listen
3. Eliminate distractions
4. Cooperate with what God says

Week 2 : How God Talks to You

1. God speaks through the Bible
2. God speaks to us through gifted teachers
3. God speaks through impressions
4. God speaks through pain

Why is it so important to really hear to God speak? There are three reasons:

1. It assures me that I'm in God's family.
2. It protects me from mistakes.
3. It is the secret of a productive life, listening to God on a moment by moment basis.

Week 3 : How to Recognize God's Voice

1. Does it agree with the Bible?
2. Does it make me more like Christ?
3. Does my church family confirm it?
4. Is it consistent with how God has shaped me?
5. Does it concern my responsibility?
6. Do I sense God's peace about it?

WEEK 4 : RECEIVING GUIDANCE FROM GOD

I will stand at my watch
and station myself on the ramparts;
I will look to see what He will say to me,
and what answer I am to give this complaint.
Then the Lord replied:
"Write down the revelation
and make it plain on tablets
so that a herald may run with it. Habakkuk 2:1-2

1. BACKGROUND : HABAKKUK, PROPHET TO JUDAH
He's a minor prophet also asked "Why there is injustice things happened?" -We aren't the first to ask that.
a. "How long, Lord?" Habakkuk's first prayer.
b. God's Answer - bring Babylonia to wiped the Israelites
c. "How can You use them, Lord?" Habakkuk's second prayer - them : wicked people, worse enemy
d. Waiting for God's answer
e. God's second answer - don't worry. I'll destroyed them for their wickedness. God will use them first to fulfilled His purpose.
f. "I will rejoice in the God of my salvation" Habakkuk's third prayer.

Habakkuk saw injustice occurring in Judah and cried out to God for an answer. We cry out to cry in the midst of crisis, in the midst of sickness, in the times when we can't go on in our own strength. God hears the cries of His people, and responds to them. Example : The nation of Israel in slavery in Egypt (Exodus 3); Jehoshaphat when Moab and Ammon invaded Israel (2 Chronicles 20); Peter's deliverance from jail (Acts 12); Paul and Silas in prison (Acts 16)

2. HOW TO REQUEST GUIDANCE?

a. I must realize that God cares about the details of our lives - most of us only asked for the really BIG questions.

Matt 6:31-32
Sometimes we don't ask Him, coz we thought He don't care about the details.

b. I must ask a specific question
James 4: 2b "You do not have, because you do not ask God."

c. I must believe He wants to answer
James 1:5-6

3. FIVE STEPS TO RECEIVING GUIDANCE
While Habakkuk was waiting for God's answer - Hab 2:1-2

a. W ith draw
"I will climb my watchtower"

watchtower: someone getting away from everything.
This is Suzanna Wesley's watchtower : in the rocking chair, under the apron.

"..Suzanna Wesley had no less than 17 children! Some people have looked at my wife and I with five children and asked if they were all ours! A lady in Little Rock, AR just this past week was notified she was pregnant with her 18^th child at the age of 41. Suzanna Wesley somehow found time to pray every day by lifting her apron over her head… that was her prayer closet! The children knew they had to be quiet when mommy was praying. John and Charles Wesley, the founders of the Methodist Church were among those children. Again, while John and Charles have their names all over history and theology books Suzanna may be less known but was a primary influence in their lives. Her influence lived on in her boys."

b. W ait - be patient, coz God's time line isn't ours. His plans aren't ready yet.
"I will station myself" - hurry is the death of prayer

c. W atch - take a look around you, how God works, what He had for you.

"I will look to see what He says to me"

d. W rite - we need to remember it.
"Write down clearly what I reveal to you."

e. W orship
Habakkuk wasn't happy with what God said, but still worshiping Him for being Him.
"I will rejoice in the God of my salvation"

4. WHAT IF THERE IS NO ANSWER

a. Sometimes God let's us choose - Go and choose whatever. He will be with you anyway. The critical thing is your relationship with God.

b. Make sure you evaluate your choice.

*is it biblical?
*does it make me more like Christ?

c. Make a decision based on confidence, not on fear.

"God, who loved us enough to send His Son to die for us, will walk with you
no matter what you decide." Pastor Dave Kenney

"...whatever decision your making, Am gonna make it work it out..." [God]
He's not sitting up there just watching and doing nothing

How to Hear God's Voice

Pt. Dave Kenney

1. God speaks through the Bible
2. God speaks to us through gifted teachers
3. God speaks through impressions
4. God speaks through pain.

Why is it so important to really hear God speak? There are three reasons:

1. It is assures me that I'm in God's family.
2. It protects me from mistakes.
3. It is the secret of a productive life, listening to God on a moment by moment basis (not only on dangerous situations)

God gives us impressions. But how do we know, it's from God?
1. DOES IT AGREE WITH THE BIBLE?
Luke 21:33 - God never contradicts His own word.

Let me "pray" about it, usually means No.

2. DOES IT MAKE ME MORE LIKE CHRIST?
Eph. 4:13 (NLT)
Gal 5:22-23 (NLT) - What would Jesus do?

3. DOES MY CHURCH FAMILY CONFIRM IT?
Proverbs 12:15 (NLT)
Proverbs 15:22 (ESV)
1 Cor 12:26 (NIV)
Proverbs 11:14b (ESV)

4. IS IT CONSISTENT WITH HOW GOD HAS SHAPED ME?
Eph. 2:10 (NIV)
Rom 12:6 (NLT)

5. DOES IT CONCERN MY RESPONSIBILITY?
We have area of our own responsibility.
When He speaks about other people to you:

• God uses you to confirm what He's already said to them.
• If God uses me to speak to someone else's life He will often do so without you knowing it. - we don't always know how God uses us.
• Trust God to speak to that person first before you talk to them. Pray that God speak to that person first.

6. DO I SENSE GOD'S PEACE ABOUT IT?
Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)
Psalm 32:8 (NLT)
John 8:47 (TNIV)
Psalm 78:1 (NIV)

How To Hear God Speak

Pt. Dave Kenney
Luke 8:1-12

God speaks to every single people. And it's good news that He speaks to everyone.
He wants to have a communication based relationship.
The problem is, we misunderstand His words. Even most of the time we do according to our own understanding.
IES is not a non PROPHET organizations. :)

Luke 8:1-12

Attitude of your heart and how it reflects on, to how God speaks to us.

Luke 8:4-15
"Jesus said... He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" v.8b

How can we hear Him speak?

I. CULTIVATE an open mind : be eager
"...some seed fell along the path: It was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up." v.5

"Those along the path are those who hear, and then the devil comes along and take away the word from their hearts, so they cannot believe and be saved." v.12

The hardened path - because of the constant traffic. Usually narrow minded, not open to hear what Jesus speaks.

3 Causes:

1. Pride - "didn't need Good to tell me what to do"
2. Fear - out of afraid, then decide on not to listen.
3. Bitterness - cos our mind start to questioning God. You will be hurt in life. This not heaven, this is earth. But we have God. Our choices today will determine us becoming a better person or a bitter one. If we close our mind, we have close ourselves to the only ONE who can help us.

He didn't promise a god life (non pain life). But He promise to be with you to go through the pain life.
If problems occur, don't run from God. Instead run for God.

The first step in hearing God speak is I must cultivate an open mind.

II. ALLOCATE time to listen.
"Other seed fell on shallow soil with rock beneath. This see began to grow but soon withered and died for lack of moisture." v.6

"Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing, they fail away." v.13
They didn't retain. You can completely be inspired/thrilled with The Word, but not be transformed.
Why God should teach us new things when we haven't resolved the old ones?

The shallow soil -

Secondly, we must allocate time to listen.

III. ELIMINATE the distractions. Give time for God to speak.
"Other seed fell among thorns which grew up with it and choked the plants. v.7
"The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by life's worries, riches, and pleasures, and they don't mature. v.14
Preoccupied our mind.

The soil with weeds

Define: [weeds']

A plant considered undesirable, unattractive, or troublesome, especially one growing where it is not wanted, as in a garden. Rank growth of such plants. Tobacco. A cigarette. Marijuana. A water plant, especially seaweed. The leaves or stems of a plant as distinguished from the seeds: dill weed. Something useless, detrimental, or worthless, especially an animal unfit for breeding. Slang Tobacco. A cigarette. Marijuana. v. weed·ed, weed·ing, weeds v. tr. To clear of weeds. To remove (weeds). Often used with out: weed out dandelions. To eliminate as unsuitable or unwanted. Often used with out: weed out unqualified applicants. v. intr. To remove weeds. [Middle English, from Old English wēod, herb, grass, weed.]

Weeds are signs of neglect

3 types of weeds

• Worries - you can't be worried and pray for God on the same time.

define [worry]
–verb (used without object)

1.	to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; fret.

2.	to move with effort: an old car worrying uphill.

–verb (used with object)

3.	to torment with cares, anxieties, etc.; trouble; plague.

4.	to seize, esp. by the throat, with the teeth and shake or mangle, as one animal does another.

5.	to harass by repeated biting, snapping, etc.

–noun

6.	a worried condition or feeling; uneasiness or anxiety.

7.	a cause of uneasiness or anxiety; trouble.

8.	act of worrying.

9.	Fox Hunting. the action of the hounds in tearing to pieces the carcass of a fox.

—Verb phrase

10.	worry along or through, Informal. to progress or succeed by constant effort, despite difficulty: to worry through an intolerable situation.

• Riches
• Pleasure - God invented FUN, but don't let those things to distracted but instead make it fulfill.

We must pay attention to God and what HE says to us.

IV. COOPERATE with what He says
You will never know how His plans will work. You can't tell God, let show me how it works, then I'll decide later. If God tells you to do something, you will only know 2 things: the first step, and the last step. What happened in between, you will never know.

"The seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word retain it and by persevering produce a crop." v.15

Do you want to have a productive life?

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says!" James 1:22
Don't think if you came regular to church, or listen to worship music in your car, then you will have a productive life.

I will allocate time to listen MORE!
[God wants us to have a willing mind]

Making Our World A Better Place

Chris Long
Missions Weekend

2 Tim 1:15-18

Paul was blessed by someone that made his world a better place.
That someone is Onesiphorus.

Do you have a someone like that? Or maybe you could be that someone?

Paul talked highly about Onesiphorus.
What did he do?

1. Remained loyal and stood by Paul in times of destress.,

v.15

definition [Loyal] :

• firm and not changing in your friendship with or support for a person or an organization, or in your belief in your principles
• always supportive
  
• always liking and supporting someone or something, sometimes when other people do not

We need to be loyal to the ones who's precious in our life.
Loyal to our faith, to our family, friends, and nation.

2. Onesiphorus ministered to Paul's deepest needs.

v.16 - refreshed me (NIV) ; visited and encourage (NLT).

Rom 12:13 - Practice hospitality.
Usually Christians, they loved God SO much so gave all to God, and left nothing for others.

We can refreshed others with an act of kindness.

3. He was noble and not ashamed of Paul's sufferings

v.16b
Nobility - someone has to got standard classy, not mediocre. He's a class act that can affect people.

definition [Noble] :

noble (HIGH RANK)
adjective [not gradable]
having a high social rank, esp. from birth
a noble family related to the queen

noble
noun [C]
a person of high social rank, esp. from birth

nobility
noun [U]
the class or group of people who have a high social rank, esp. from birth

When Jesus was on the cross, He prayed for the ones who prosecuted Him.
They KNEW what they did to Him was wrong. And still He prayed for them!
People was like, "what? are you serious?"
Why?
Cause He's got class. He got standard classy.
He saw the case beyond everyone else.

Same thing happened to the murderer who's hanged beside Him.
He forgave him, and promised paradise to him, right now!

4. Onesiphorus had a shepherd's heart

v.17 On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me.
Luke 15:4-5

That's why, ministry isn't a business.
You go and search for the 1% who's lost, in need, etc. and leave the 99%

Onesiphorus traveled from Ephesus to Rome, just to go and found Paul.

It's a long way!



5. He came and helped Paul in many practical ways.

1 Corinthians 12:28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.

No one got excuses to say "I don't have a special gift like you to serve", cos there's a gift called a gift of able to help others. Everyone has this gift.

Why Bother?

Pt. Duane Danielson

Luke 18: 35-43
Luke 19:1-9

God did things differently
God do things differently

1. God Works in Different Places

v.35 - in ordinary place, a street.
v. 4 - an inordinate tree : Sycamore tree, in an ordinary street.

Nowadays, we usually think that God needs to do things only on stage, line up people, etc.
It doesn't work that way.

Ordinary Places VS Holy Places, Spiritual Places.

God will just intercede in ordinary places.

2. God Works in Different Person

A blind man, which also is a beggar. Usually people don't want to spend time to go deeper coz at the end they think they need to take care of the beggar.

Zacheus, a corrupt man. Do you want to do biz with this kind of people?

Jesus spend the day with an inordinate person.
Jesus just spend a small time in the world, but spend a day one on one with every person that He met.
He's more interested for the people who are on our least of list, just because we ourselves don't stand those bottom list people.

If you want to reach them, you need to reach further in the mud, and it's gonna be muddy. Also you need to get all "the crap" out, while you are pulling stuffs outside the mud.

It's gonna be:

• muddy
• complicated
• there's a time limit
• less return

but guess what?
Some of us, God strategically put us in "The Mud"

3. God Works in Different Plans

Sometime Jesus wants to interrupt our plan, coz He got bigger plan for us.

Imagine if the disciples has schedule Jesus, and the blind beggar is just not on the program. Would they stopped Jesus from interfering their plan, just becoz He need to stop for everyone?

v. 43 - Jesus has plans also for the blind man : Follow Jesus and praise God.

If we follow God's plan, it will transformed us immediately.
Transformation that effects you and your family.

4. God Works in Different Participation then we thought.

v.40 - what do YOU want ME to do?
v.5 - I must stay in your house.

He got personally involve with every single "prospect".
He didn't delegate to the disciples, but do it one on one.
Always have a daily interacting with people.

How do you need to be personal and on going with people?

1. Everyone need to pray for the harvest, by name.
2. Need to be giving more..
3. There's time when God us going to stretch you.
4. We need to go unto the fitness and work - figure our where God want to seed you.

Q&A Weekend

Can we challenge God?
Read the book of Job.
Just remember that God is not afraid of our questions!

Why do people pretend to be Christians?
Cos it's easy to do. Mostly think that they can just humble themselves every time they sin.They took advantage of that.

How do we know that God answers our prayers/not?

1. Pray in obedience to God. Not because we want something to happened. But because we ARE supposed to pray.
2. We don't have to pray everything that's happened ________ circumstances. The more we pray, the more coincidence we have. Pray because of obedience.
3. Don't become so rational. Just glorify the Lord.

Tithing somewhere else?
2 Corinthians 9:6-11
Everything belongs to the Lord.
Give wherever, however, whatever He leads.
As long as we give joyfully.

Gossip?
Eph 4:15 - share out of truth, share because of love, if not, STOP talking.

If you're asking the LOVE question, you will never gossip.
If you asked the GOSSIP question, you will never loved.

feel offended because of__
you are putting yourself as a weaker Christian.