Do you complain about what Jesus is doing?

Message: The gospel according to Luke

Text: Luke 8:26-39

The work of Jesus in your life depends on your attitude toward yourself and Jesus. How do you see yourself? That will determine how you see Jesus.

~The people of the town:                

A holy  moment lost on unholy people. They had gotten used to demon possession and raising hogs.

Luke 5:17-18

Not seeing your need and forgetting your need

~The man:

There aren’t enough words to  describe how this formerly demon possessed man felt about Jesus  after what Jesus had done for him. He went to “tell” because he has something to tell.

This may be the area of your spiritual life that needs to be addressed next.

Satanic Oppression

Message: The gospel according to Luke

Text: Luke 8:26-39

Satanic possession and oppression

John 10:10 the devil can’t create life so he wants to blight/destroy what God has created

Demoniac: 1) Isolated himself from society and society isolated  itself from him. Refused any human control or limits. 2) Now under satanic control, no longer in control of himself. 3) Fascinated with death, not life. Has given up on life. 4) Continually restless, never happy or content. 5) Wants to harm himself. Hates himself and everyone else. 6) Feels like he’s losing his mind...and he is.

If Satan is not allowed to physically kill you, he wants you to live as though you are dead. Satan loves death, Jesus creates life. Satan loves tombs, Jesus leaves them ASAP!

The demoniac met Jesus, MK 5:6

The Storms of Life

Message: The gospel  according to Luke

Text: Luke 8:22-25

~The storm did not wake Jesus, the storm did not disturb Him. But the disciple’s lack of faith did. 

The storm is not the issue

...your faith is!

~The problem is not the size of the problem, but how you see Jesus.

We are not minimizing the problem, we are magnifying  Jesus.

We’re not here to worship      problems, we’re here to worship      Jesus.

A.W Tozer,  "The simple truth is that worship is elementary until it begins to take on the quality of admiration.  Just as long as the worshiper is engrossed with himself and his good fortune, he is a babe.  We begin to grow up when our worship passes from thanksgiving to admiration."

The Family of God

Message: The gospel             according to Luke

Text: Luke 8:19-21

“I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God…”

~Beware, the people who love you the most want the best for you.

Beware, be sure you do the best for them!

~To be a part of the family of God you must choose to be born into it—”You must be born again!”— then you must keep choosing it!

For those who are committed and involved in our church, it could be that most of the people who love you most are in this room

Be kind--everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.

Showing your light

Message: The gospel according to Luke

Text: Luke 8:16-18

~Let them see you

Matthew 5:14, 16

You are specially created by God for a purpose...His purpose

~Let yourself see them.

(John Maxwell and Diet Coke)

Be kind--everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.

Mr. Kimball, evangelist D.L. Moody's Sunday school teacher,  "I can truly say that I have seen few persons whose minds were spiritually darker when he came into my Sabbath-school class, or one who seemed more unlikely ever to become a Christian of clear, decided views of gospel truth, sill less to fill any sphere of extended public usefulness."

Keep planting seeds

Message: The gospel according to Luke

Text: Luke 8:4-15 (8, 15)

Parable of the Seed & Soils—

Unresponsive, Impulsive,

Preoccupied, Responsive

~The only point of sowing seed is so the seed can multiply, make more seed

~What culture group among us is the most mentally, emotionally healthy...who worries the least?

~New Seed, New Shoes

~Good soil is always looking for more good soil. Galatians 6:9

Soil with Potential.

Message: The gospel according to Luke

Text: Luke 8:4-15 (7, 14)

Parable of the Seed & Soils—

Unresponsive, Impulsive,

Preoccupied, Responsive

Observations/notes: ________

What is the difference between this soil that produced thorns and the 2         previous soils?

Best word to describe the person who is this soil _________?

Jesus mentions 3 things that can be thorns in our life that choke out the Word of God and keep us from reproducing into other’s lives:

Cares

Riches

Pleasures

But the snake is still in the tree.

Message: But the snake is still in the tree

Texts:

Genesis 3:1, the lying snake

3:2-3, death is the ultimate curse

3:24, guarding the tree

Galatians 3:13, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Jesus is the ultimate cure for our curse

There is no longer any hope for the snake, he is eternally defeated. But the snake is still in the tree.

What are you growing?

Parable of the Seed & Soils—

Unresponsive, Impulsive, Preoccupied, Responsive

Observations/notes:______________

What is the difference between this soil that produced thorns and the 2 previous soils in Jesus’ parable?

How is this soil like the last soil      mentioned—the good soil? What is the    difference between the 2 last soils?

Best word to describe the person who is this soil? _________

Jesus mentions 3 things that can be thorns in our life that choke out the Word of God and keep us from reproducing into other’s lives:

Cares—1 Peter 5:7

Riches

Pleasures

Faith that endures...no matter what!

Message: The gospel according to Luke

Text: Luke 8:4-15 (6, 13))

Parable of the Seed & Soils—

Unresponsive; Impulsive;

Preoccupied; Responsive

Observations/notes: _____________

The Word brings—Emotion

The emotion of joy/enthusiasm is a great by product of receiving the Word, but a lasting relationship with Jesus must be based on deeper things.  Emotions are too transitory to trust them too much.  (Love)

The Word in deeper soil—Endures

Temptation/testing/trouble/trial.      Thin, superficial soil won’t survive  without rain every few days, but it won’t rain every few days. A deeper       heart/soul/mind moves beyond emotion into endurance.

What is the sign of genuine, lasting faith? If it can endure testing.

Faith that endures...no matter what!

Not an adjustment, a complete change.

Message: The gospel according to Luke

Text: Luke 8:4-15 (5, 11-12)

Parable of the Seed & Soils—

Unresponsive; Impulsive; Preoccupied; Responsive

Observations/notes: _____________

The wayside is a foot path thru the field; a road; a hardened path...so the seed does not sink in at all.

John 10:10, the thief exists to steal, to steal from you. How can a thief steal from you? Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)

How would you describe a hard heart?

How do you get one? How do you not get one?

Responding to what God has done for you.

Message: The gospel according to Luke

Text: Luke 8:1-3

~Preaching the glad tidings is proclaiming the good news (gospel) This is the point of everything. This is why FGBC is here.  Proclaiming is telling, not asking. In a way, faith is contagious.

~Ministry of presence. 12 apostles, 3 women, and many more.  Why did Mary Magdalene get to be the first person to see Jesus after His resurrection?

Note: there is no record in the gospels of any woman being opposed to Jesus. Women mentioned in the gospels are usually receiving or giving help.

~Jesus has done something great in the life of every person mentioned in this text. But they are not trying to pay Jesus back for what He has done, they are responding to what He has done for them.

Does God need help proclaiming the gospel? The best thing you can do for yourself is respond to what Jesus has done for you.

True Worship

Message: The gospel according to Luke

Text: Luke 7:36-50

Worship is seeing who Jesus is, seeing who you are, and seeing the difference

What we know from 37-38:

She knew she was a sinner; she knew where Simon’s house was, and she knew Jesus was there; she came    prepared with a flask of oil (1 year’s average wage); she stood for a while, weeping; then washed Jesus’ feet with her tears; then wiped His feet with her hair; kissed His feet; then anointed His feet with oil from her flask; no one    invited her; she took an extreme       initiative and overcame her shame, she knew they knew who she was.

So…

She knows who she is and what she’s done. She knows who Jesus is and what He’s done for her. She knows the other people in the room and what they’ve done. She worships only      Jesus. When you allow yourself to not worship Jesus, you are worshiping yourself. When you allow anyone else to stop you from worshiping Jesus, you are worshiping them.

The mistakes we make.

Message: The gospel according to Luke

Text: Luke 7:36-50

Simon the Pharisee, and a sinful woman

Simon’s mistakes:

1) Thinking Jesus is like Simon—that He thinks about and sees other people as Simon does. He was amazed that Jesus would let the woman approach Him, but should have been amazed that Jesus accepted the invitation to Simon’s house.

2) That Jesus didn’t notice his lack of worship. Simon didn’t even notice it himself.

3) That inviting Jesus into his home was going to go as planned. That Simon would be in charge and Jesus would  follow his lead.

4) That Jesus couldn’t know what Simon was thinking. That Jesus didn’t really know him. Simon is a hypocrite, a fake.

Discipleship Class

Message: The gospel according to Luke

Text: Luke 7:36-50

How to start a discipleship class?

Did Jesus ever not have a discipleship class?

Invitation and Opportunity

~Invitation is someone knocking on your door asking you to open it.

~Opportunity is you facing an open door.

Luke 7:  ~Centurion’s servant healed

~Widow of Nain’s son raised from the dead

~Answers John’s disciples then teaches the crowd

~The home of Simon the Pharisee

If following the will of God is   boring to you, you’re not doing it right!

Are you holding back?

Message: The gospel according to Luke

Text: Luke 7:29-35

The will of God as it is, not always as you wish it would be. Jesus as He is, not always as you wish He would be.

Water baptism and Spirit baptism.

Do you remember your baptism?

Rejecting: no hope

Neglecting: Jesus being Lord of your life is the Great Exchange — He gave His life for you, you give your life to Him.

Holding back, parceling out,   pacing yourself too much...all in

The doubt of John the Baptist.

Not so much what Jesus is doing, but what He’s not doing?

When the answer is NO, when the answer is not what you want to hear. When Jesus does not and will not act as you wish for Him to.

Doubt is accepted here.             

If faith were kept in a large room, the only way into the room is thru a door called doubt.

What is one way your faith is increased/strengthened? Thru testing. How is your faith tested? By working thru doubt. If you’re not having to work thru doubt, then this is not a real test of faith.

Thousands of years later we’re still talking about John the Baptist. No one can be a hero of faith if their faith has not been tested. The  greater the test, the greater the   hero.

Who is the most important person for you to reach?

Message: The gospel according to Luke

Text: Luke 7:18-28

Ministry to people the way Jesus did it and the doubt of John the Baptist.

This is not so much about what Jesus is doing as what He is not doing.

In the beginning of the General Baptist denomination, what made us distinctive? Heb 2:9

Two important parts of the ministry culture/personality of First General Baptist:

1) The posture of ministry

2) The vision of ministry

Who is the most important person for you to reach? ___________

In the story of the Good Samaritan, which character are you?

You Won't Believe What Happened At A Funeral Today!

Message: A widow’s only son meets God’s only Son...or...You won’t believe what happened at a funeral today!

Text: Luke 7:11-17

While on earth, Jesus will raise 3    people back to this life: the widow’s son, Jairus’ daughter, Lazarus.

Vs 11  The only son of a widow, which in that culture probably left her destitute beyond what we are used to.

Vs 13 So Jesus felt sorry for her, not her son. Every time Jesus raised someone back to this life, He did it for the family’s sake, not the person brought back.

Vs 14-15 When Jesus speaks to the person who has died, they hear Him immediately. (Jesus called Lazarus by name so the whole cemetery wouldn’t come to life!)

Vs 16 God truly has visited His   people, and still is.

Vs 17  So the report about Jesus is still being spread

Notes:

The dead are not further from Jesus, but closer. So the dead are not really dead as we tend to think, but are more alive than before!  Lk 20:37-38,

1 Thess 4:13-18, 1 Cor 15

Restored Part 3

Message: Restore my soul

Text: Psalm 23:3

“He makes me whole again; refreshes my soul; renews my strength.”

John Bunyan’s, “Pilgrim’s Progress”

Not a soul that’s lost, but a soul that’s tired.

G. Campbell Morgan, “It is an  unruffled song of rest.”

I’m tired of it:

Some things you may need to quit and give it to Jesus.

Some things you may want to quit but should keep going.  You may need to try a different        approach?

Matthew 11:28-29