Sermon Notes May 19, 2024
Choosing Well for Life “A Life on Fire”
- Math problem: Two horses can pull 9,000 pounds. Four horses can pull _____________ pounds.
- “Synergy” is the energy or force that is generated through the ____________________ of various parts or processes.
- Three kinds of People — —
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- VIP — Very _________________ People.
- VNP — Very ________________ People.
- VDP — Very ________________ People.
- Questions: Is this person _____________________ to Jesus or taking me further away? Or ______________?
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1Kings 19:19-21, “So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. 20 Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. ‘Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,’ he said, ‘and then I will come with you.’ ‘Go back,’ Elijah replied. ‘What have I done to you?’ 21 So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.”
See 2 Kings 2:1-14
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Sermon Notes May 12, 2024
What Happens When We Burn Out? “A Life on Fire”
Life Change Index Scale
Event Impact Score
Death of Spouse 200
Divorce 73
Marital Separation 65
Death of Close Family Member 63
Jail Term 63
Personal Injury/Illness 53
Marriage 50
Retirement 45
1 Kings 19:3-8, “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, Lord,’ he said. ‘Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’ 5 Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat.’ 6 He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. 7 The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.’ 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.”
- Physical — God fed Elijah and __________________. In other words, ____________________________
See 1 Kings 19:11-13
- Spiritual — God is found in the __________________.
See Exodus 20:8-10 & 1 Kings 19:15-16
- _______________ — God told Elijah that he needed people who would support, protect, and encourage him.
“Who are you letting into your life right now to help you do life?”
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Sermon Notes May 05, 2024
When God Provides the Fire “A Life on Fire”
1 Kings 18:1-2, 17-20, “After a long time, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: ‘Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.’ 2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab…. 17 When he saw Elijah, he said to him, ‘Is that you, you troubler of Israel?’18 ’I have not made trouble for Israel,’ Elijah replied. ‘But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals. 19 Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.’”
1Kings 18:21-24, “So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went before the people and said, ‘How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him.’ But the people said nothing.22 Then Elijah said to them, ‘I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. 23 Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.’ Then all the people said, ‘What you say is good.’”
- Pagan sacrifices were offered to deities like Baal as a form of _______________. In essence, it was like ______________.
- In ancient times, the Bible teaches that God decreed that the ______________________________________ — for a sin — could be covered through the blood of an animal.
John 1:29, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’”
See 1Kings 18:25-40 (pew Bible, page 557)
- Because no matter what you’ve heard, ________________ is always God’s last resort.
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Sermon Notes April 28, 2024
Keys to the Heat “A Life on Fire”
1st Kings 17:1-3a, “Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, ‘As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.’ 2 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: ‘Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine…’”
- “Elijah” means: ___________________________________.
1st Kings 16:29-33, “In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him. 31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.”
- How does a person “get on fire?”
1st Kings 17:5-6, “So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.”
See 1Kings 17:7-24
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
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Sermon Notes April 21, 2024
What’s in a Word?
1. Storge — Most commonly, the love between parents and children. It’s the love that is ____________________ to be there — when there is an ___________________ for love to be there.
Romans 12:9-10, “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.”
Also see Romans 1:28-31 and 2 Timothy 3:1-3
2. Phileo — Brotherly Love; it’s the attraction of people to each other who are ______________________________
2 Peter 1:5-7, ”For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.”
3. Eros — Has to do with erotic, sexual love. It is about ______________________
See Song of Songs
4. Agape — Meant _____________________________ love; the kind of love that is completely ______________, completely sacrificial.
Romans 5:7-8, “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 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 April 7, 2024
Again, What’s Love Look Like?
“What’s Love REALLY Got to Do With It”
- Paul is saying: there is nothing about your life, nothing you will do or be or accomplish spiritually, that matters if there is an absence of ___________________________.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7, 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
- Patience is the will, the choice, to wait or endure __________.
- If envy is left unchecked, the desire for the “thing” turns into a dislike for the _________________ who has the “thing.”
- In other words, love isn’t concerned with _________________ or self-assertion; it cares more about _____________________. Homework:
First, do you see Jesus in this description?
Second, how do you compare to this description?
Third, with the people in your life, if you were to love like this, what or how would it look?
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Sermon Notes March 31, 2024 Easter Sunday
“The Blind Spot Test”
John 20:11-16, “Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.13 They asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’ ‘They have taken my Lord away,’ she said, ‘and I don’t know where they have put Him.’ 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.15 He asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’ Thinking He was the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have put Him, and I will get Him.’16 Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned toward Him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means “Teacher”).”
- Sometimes life can kick you so hard that you can’t imagine ________________________. Your grief forms a blind spot.
- Another idea about Mary is that she couldn’t see Jesus because her mind wouldn’t entertain that He had been ______________________.
- One last reason that might explain Mary’s inability to see Jesus is because of her sense of ____________________. She might be thinking, “Why would Jesus come to me? Why would I matter?”
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Sermon Notes March 24, 2024
The Urgency
“Sending You”
- 1. The Curse of Knowledge: Once we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it’s like not _______________.
Romans 10:13-15 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’”
Luke 16:19-28,19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.22 The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’25 But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’27 He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’”
- Lesson learned: Everybody ______________________.
- Lesson learned: Jesus wanted to make it absolutely clear that when we die, we face either ____________________.
- The Rich man does not “appear” to be in trouble but he didn’t have a _______________________ with God.
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Sermon Notes March 17, 2024
The Challenge
“Sending You”
- The idea of “____________________” is what really set His life apart.
See: John 4:34; 5:30; 6:29; 6:38; 7:16; 7:28-29; 8:16; 8:29; 9:4; 12:44-45; 12:49; 13:20; 14:24.
Luke 15:1, 20, “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus…. So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his fathersaw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”
- To Jesus, nothing mattered more than ______________ what was lost.
See: Luke 5:32; Matthew 18:14; Luke 19:10; 14:23.
John 20:21, “Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.’”
- Jesus wasn’t just sent on a _____________________; He came to send us on one, too.
- A spiritual narcissism has invaded our thinking where the individual needs and desires of the believer become the __________________________________________.
Are we a Battleship or a Cruise Liner?
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Sermon Notes March 03, 2024
Making History: Is This Your Time
See Esther 4:1-8
Keys to Making History:
- First Key, ______________________________.
“I believe that in your life you will have countless _____________ presented to you by God to do something ______________ with your life.”
- Second Key, count the ______________________.
“With every _______________ comes a _________________ — there is often a sacrifice involved in doing what God has asked you to do.”
See Esther 4:9-11
- Third Key, A direct challenge to _____________ in face of the risk and in light of the ____________________________.
Esther 4:12-14, “When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: ‘Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?’”
So how did Esther respond?
Esther 4:15-17, “Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 ’Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.’ 17 So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.”
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