Sermon Notes January 07, 2024

A Creative Perspective                                       “ In the Beginning” 

  1. In beginning a study, it’s good to remember these  3 things:                                                                        
A. It’s a ________________ book.                                                                        
B. It’s written in _______________________ observational (phenomenological) language.    
C. In the beginning, It’s written in __________ (specifically a combination of prose narrative and epic poem. 

Genesis 1:1-2, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty , darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 

  1. The opening headline says 2 things:
A. In the beginning ___________.      B. He ______________. 

Some Big Bang Facts

Dr. Edwin Hubble — it’s his theory. At one time — all matter was packed into a dense mass (at outrageous temperatures) and then about 13.8 billion years ago — explosion. On April 24, 1992, the Cosmic Background Explorer satellite (COBE), gave stunning confirmation of the universe’s “hot Big Bang creation event.” 

  1. Here are the problems:                     
A. We know that ______________________ cannot come

from nothing.                                                                                       

B. We also know that the universe isn’t ________________.           
C. Million dollar question:  Where did the stuff that got ________________ come from  and who ________________ it?                                        
4. About the word “Day”… how could God have wanted to inspire the writer of Genesis to convey scientific precision about literal, 24-hour solar days when, according to the text _____________     

____________________ weren’t even created until the 4th day.

See Genesis 1:3-31; 2:1-3.  (Pew Bible, page 1)

  1. As for the first week of creation, it can be divided into two parts: 3 days of _____________ and 3 days of _____________.

For Additional Biblical References — 2 Corinthians 4:5-7’ Job9:9; Deuteronomy 4:19; and, Isaiah 45:10-15.

 


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Sermon Notes December 31, 2023

Killing Giants                                                                     “No Different” 

1 Samuel 17:1-3 Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh and Azekah. Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines.  The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them. 

See 1 Samuel 17:4-31; pew Bible page  445 

  1. Two radically different reactions to Goliath:                      
  2. A) “Giant avoidance,” the minute the giant steps out,           

            ________________________________.                                    

  1. B) “Giant engagement,” like David, they choose to                   

           ______________________________. 

  1. What lessons does David teach us?                           
  2. A) He did the “math of __________________________.”  
  3. B) He saw Goliath as a challenge_________________  

          It meant Goliath was really calling out                                             

          _______________________________. 

1 Samuel 17:32-37 

  1. C) He remembered how _________________God had     

          been to him, time and again.                                                            

          God was bigger than Goliath!   

See 1 Samuel 17:40-51;


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Sermon Notes December 17, 2023

God’s Leadership in Your Life

“No Different”

Exodus 13:21-22, “By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.”  Numbers 14:14 and Nehemiah 9:12                                                        

Exodus 33:7-11, “Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the ‘tent of meeting.’ Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent.  The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend…”                  

  1. If you want to know what God says to you about something, go to where He has already ______________________; in other words, go to the _____________________.  Psalm 32:8,119: 24-32, 104-105                                                              
  2. Talking with God as if talking to a _____________; which means not only talking but ________________. This is Prayer. Psalm 46:10; 130:5                                  
  3. There are people who walk with God and have lived full enough to have knowledge and experience come together and form a very rare commodity: ________________________________.                           Proverbs 12:15; 15:22, 19:20; and 20:18                         

John 16:7, “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”

  1. The Holy Spirit takes up residence in your life and leads and guides and prompts from ___________________.
  2. How do I know if a prompting is from God or not?                          
A. Does it ______________ the truth of the Bible?                        
B. Does it ______________ love for God and people?                       
C. Does it ______________ a Godly conviction?
6. God can and does ________________________ and create opportunities for you. These are God-directed opportunities. Acts 16:6-8

 


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Sermon Notes December 10, 2023

WHAT IS IT?                                                                                          “No Different”

See Exodus 16 (pew Bible, pg. 112)

1. God gave them special food called ____________________?

2. God wants our __________________ on Him to be as dangerously close to daily as possible.

See Matthew 6:9-13 (pew Bible pg. 1504)

Matthew 6:26, 28-30, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you—you of little faith?”

3. If there is one central truth to all the Bible it is this: You                    ______________________ to God!

Matthew 6:31-32, “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.”

4. Two Qualifiers:                                                                                     a. This is ___________ an invitation to passivity. Meaning —             “All I have to do is pray for daily bread; God will give it, so no need to _______________ for it.”                                                                     b. We need to be careful __________ to confuse asking for our daily bread — a ____________ — with our daily ____________.

5. Praying for “my daily bread” carries with it the idea that perhaps, as I pray, I may be the ____________ to provide God’s bread to another who is praying.                                                                                       


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Sermon Notes December 03, 2023

He Will Rescue Us                                              “No Different”

See Exodus 14, Pew Bible page 108.

1. The God of the universe, the One leading the people of Israel, ___________________________ in this trap.

Exodus 14:4, “…I will gain glory for Myself through Pharaoh and all his army….”

2. It’s only when there is no escape, no way out… that you do the two most important things one can do with God: 

                a) __________________________.

                b) __________________________.

3. There are four things Moses doesn’t want you to miss:                                                      

 a) Don’t _____________________.            

b) Stand ____________________.

c) _________________________.
d) Stay __________ (or ________________).

4. Notice a couple of things:  

         a) God took ________________ of the situation the children of God were in.

Exodus 14:19-20, “Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them,  coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.”

b) God provided a way out — an __________________.

Psalm 106:9-13 (The Message) “He rebuked the Red Sea so that it dried up on the spot —He paraded them right through! —no one so much as got wet feet! He saved them from a life of oppression, pried them loose from the grip of the enemy. Then the waters flowed back on their oppressors; there wasn’t a single survivor. Then they believed His words were true and broke out in songs of praise. But it wasn’t long before they forgot the whole thing…”.


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Sermon Notes November 26, 2023

He Can Heal!                                                                                                “No Different”

See Matthew 4:23-24 and Matthew 8.

Mark 5:21-28, “Jesus got into the boat again and went back to the other side of the lake, where a large crowd gathered around Him on the shore. Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at His feet,  pleading fervently with Him. ‘My little daughter is dying,’ he said. ‘Please come and lay Your hands on her; heal her so she can live.’ Jesus went with him, and all the people followed, crowding around Him. A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched His robe.  For she thought to herself, ‘If I can just touch His robe, I will be healed.’”

  1. They were _________________ and put into _________________ so they wouldn’t just shut down the lives of other people.
  2. Think of this woman, for 12 years she is in a continual state of being                 _____________________________________.  

Mark 5:29-34, “Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from Him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, ‘Who touched My clothes?’ ‘You see the people crowding against you,’ His disciples answered, ‘and yet you can ask, “Who touched me?”’  But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at His feet and, trembling with fear, told Him the whole truth. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.’”

  1. For anyone other than family ________________ Jesus’ fringe would have been culturally scandalous.

James 5:14-15, ”Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.”

  1. The “Praying Process”
  2. A) It’s for the _________________________.
  3. B) It’s by the church’s ________________________.
  4. C) It includes being __________________________.     
  5. D) It means to pray __________________________.

 


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Sermon Notes November 19, 2023

It’s an Attitude of Gratitude

Luke 17:11-19, “Now on His way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As He was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met Him. They stood at a distance  and called out in a loud voice, ‘Jesus, Master, have pity on us!’  When He saw them, He said, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked Him—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, ‘Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?  Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?’  Then He said to him, ‘Rise and go; your faith has made you well.’”

  1. Their condition was so horrific these lepers didn’t ask Jesus to heal them—they asked for ___________________________.
  2. The main point: Gratitude really is a __________________.
  3. Having faith in God isn’t the same as ____________ to God.

Deuteronomy 8:17-18, ”You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms His covenant, which He swore to your ancestors, as it is today.”

 


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Sermon Notes November 12, 2023

Hang-Ups With Grace???       

 “It’s Crazy”

  1. Grace: The idea of ____________ what you don’t deserve, and not ________________ what you do.
  2. One of the biggest lies that we can tell ourselves is that we have to get our ________________________ before we come to Jesus as Leader and Forgiver.
  3. Second lie: Once you come to God the relationship is only continued if you keep your _________________________.

See Romans 7 and 8

John 8:7, “…He straightened up and said to them, ‘Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’”

  1. If you want to receive grace from God but refuse to give it to someone else, you ________________________ in your life.

See Matthew 18:22-35

John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Romans 6:1-2, What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”

  1. This isn’t about a mandate to live a ____________________, but a mandate to not lead a sin-dominated life.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship.

“Cheap grace is Christianity without discipleship and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.”

 


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Sermon Notes November 05, 2023

No Matter How Blurry

“It’s Crazy” 

John 8:3-7, 9-11, “ The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group  and said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do You say?’ They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing Him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with His finger. When they kept on questioning Him, He straightened up and said to them, ‘Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ …At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, Sir,’ she said.”

1. So who deserved to be stoned? Who deserved to be stoned?    ______________________________.

2. The whole idea of sin is based on the Greek word – “amartia”- which was an archery term. You have sinned , or amartia when you __________________________________.

Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

3. Apart from grace, we’re going to face the _______________   for our sin.

4. God the Son, the 2nd person of the Trinity, came to planet Earth in the Form of Jesus to live the perfect life and then offer that life as a ______________________________________.

Romans 5:7-8, “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 


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Sermon Notes October 29, 23

Christianity’s Most Scandalous Idea

“It’s Crazy” 

1. Grace is getting what we ________________, and not getting what we do. 

2. The Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of Karma, the Jewish covenant, the Muslim code of law—they are all ways to try and ____________________________. 

Ephesians 2:8-9  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. 

3. Provocative question: How can a ________God do this?  How can a God that is ___________________ be a part of   anything so crazy as Grace? 

See Luke 15:11-19 

4. What is translated “wild living” (Luke 15:13) is the Greek word “asotos.” It means ______________. Someone who is living such a way that he is destroying himself. 

Luke 15:20-24  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. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.


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