Sunday, April 11, 2010 - Northeast & Northwest Regions

 

Announcements - Bruno
Romans 3:3 
Next two Sundays, NE Sector is meeting at Woodward Hall at UNCC (not Cone Center) 4/18 & 4/25
Next Sunday, NW Sector is meeting in Cornelius 4/18 and with NE on 4/25
Pray for Erin and her family, her sister had her baby 8 weeks early, pray the baby will grow strong

 

Communion - Corey Graham
Heb 5:7
Matt 6:27
Mat 26:36+
need to trust God's wisdom and not rely on our own
That's what Jesus did
What do you want me to do, God?   not on my own agenda, but his

 

Ron Drabot -- Revelations Chapters 12 and 13
Don O - moved here from Dallas, waiting on his family to come when school ends in June
John & LaRae Cruz moved here from Detroit, their children are Camille and Valerie (they were in Chicago and L.A. for part of the same time that the Drabots were there)

 

Chapter 12
vs. 5  Psalms 2:9  Jesus
vs. 6 1,260 days is 3 1/2 years, a short time
the woman represents the people of  God, the Jews, that Jesus came through
the red dragon is Satan
He was trying to prevent Jesus from coming into the world
Herod killed all of the babies two years and less
verses 7-9  Satan kicked out of heaven
vs. 11 willing to lay down their lives
vs. 12  time is short compared to eternity
vs. 16  Satan couldn't take out God's people

 

Chapter 13
vs. 1   beast = Roman empire, Emperor Domitian
He made the people worship him, call him Lord
They were imprisoned, tortured, their privileges were taken away (like shopping in the marketplace or working to earn a living)
The mark of the beast - something identified them as "Domitian's"
The Christians didn't have this mark
vs. 3  Nero, in 64 AD, blamed the Christians for burning down the city of Rome
He had a 14 year reign (54 - 68 AD), he tortured the Christians, lit them on fire on poles, put them in the lion's den
Nero died in 69, a pause in the intense persecution but then it got worse with Domitian (Domitian's father Vespasian was emperor 69-79, his older brother Titus 79-81 and Domitian from 81 to 96, when he was assassinated).
vs. 5 42 months - again - a temporary period
God has a bigger plan
vs. 10 must be patient to be victorious
vs. 11 religious power of the empire - forced to worship the emperor
2 Cor 11;  2 Thess 2 9-11  God warns us even in the 1st century, Satan masquerading as an angel of light
God will help you to believe the lie, a delusion, if you continue to be prideful and not obey God's word
Gal 5 - read about living with sin in your life, you can read that you won't inherit the kingdom of God, yet people insist they are right with God even though they continue to allow these sins in their life
They won't humble themselves to what the Bible says
We must be humble, open and obedient to the Word
These passages should scare us, because God wants to save as many as possible
one way or another, you will evangelize, you will save souls - by obedience or by bad example, turning people to God
vs. 18  666 - 6 falls short of 7, not holy

 

People have tried to make this mean different people, like Hitler or the Pope, but this was written to the first century

 

Chapter 12 -- Satan is hurled to the earth, Satan has a plan, he has a meeting with his top demons, we are the focus of those meetings. How they can tempt us and take us down.  
He knows his time is short, wants to take us down with him.  
We go through tough times.  God is for us, Satan is against us.   Doesn't matter who causes the trouble, but how we respond, turn to God and grow, or become bitter
Satan is the accuser.  He tells us we're not good enough, this is not the time.   Every day we delay, we're serving the accuser, saying no to Jesus
We are busy, set up of Satan, we think we don't have time.  
Disciples - Satan still accuses, uses our sin to make us feel guilty and not worthy.
vs. 11 we overcome by the blood of the lamb
We need to get and give grace

 

1 -- get grace
a.   admit you're a sinner
b.  see your need
c.  understand that you need God
we can't lose unless we quit
we are forgiven, get the grace.   God forgives and forgets.

 

2 -- give the grace
once we get it, we see the need to give to others.   That's when you are free to give it away. 

 

This is from a letter discovered in the clothing of a dead child at Ravensbruck concentration camp:

"O Lord, remember not only the men and woman of good will, but also those of ill will. But do not remember all of the suffering they have inflicted upon us.

"Instead, remember the fruits we have borne because of this suffering-our fellowship, our loyalty to one another, our humility, our courage, our generosity, the greatness of heart that has grown from this trouble.

"When our persecutors come to be judged by you, let all of these fruits that we have borne be their forgiveness."

CNN Stories on genocide.   1 million killed in civil war between different tribes.   One neighbor killed a neighbor's husband and 5 children who were of a different tribe.  He was later arrested and went to jail.   She had to forgive him to move on. 

The blood of the Lamb is what will allow you to get through life.

Even to the point of suffering, the disciples kept sharing.   

The second law of thermodynamics:   all things are heading to decay and chaos.   Cars rust; food rots; bodies sag, wrinkle, age.  
This happens spiritually, too.   Life leads to decay.  
We say "I want to stop sinning, I'm not going to sin anymore."  Saying it is not enough.  We must have a God-ordained dream. 
Prov 29 - a man without vision perishes.   If you don't have a dream, you will perish. 

 

Timothy Lauren got a job in New Jersey, not in London.   He loved his wife to the very end, after 12 years with brain tumors.   He met a woman in London, Nikki, at a coffee shop. Nikki was about 60 years old, she suffered a stroke at 18 years old.   Her parents took care of her for 20 years.   He met her regularly at the coffee shop.   She was in a wheelchair, alone at a table, all the other tables were packed full.   He reached out and loved her.   No one would sit with her because she was handicapped.   She passed away suddenly from pneumonia.   First he lost his wife, now a good friend.   He told Ron he plans on working for this company in New Jersey for five years.   Then he wants to run an assisted living home.   He wants a certain number of beds for free, for people that can't afford them.   He wants to love them, give them the best years of their lives.  

 

When you have a dream, your problems don't look the same.   That's when you can turn the world upside down.