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Sunday, May 2, 2010 - Northeast & Northwest Regions
Announcements - Bruno
Col 1:9
the rest of May NE is at Woodward, not Cone Center (except for congregational meeting next Sunday at Halton)
Communion - Mike
the cross means freedom from guilt and freedom from being judged
am I loving myself spiritually?
He doesn't really love people, he cares about people
James 2:15-16 love is action
What stops us from loving?
for him, it's judging
Luke 7:37-42 Do not judge
when we judge, it justifies our lack of service and love for that person, we lack the compassion of Jesus
He thought it was ok to judge himself, however
Mat 5:48 be perfect
this means to strive to be more like God
The show Sanford & Son -- "you big dummy" -- Fred's line in the show
when you're going through life, and you're hearing that, you start to take it to heart
you start to have unrealistic expectations for yourself, can't meet those; you get apathetic
the greatest commandment -- love God with all your Heart . . . Matt 22:37
we have to love God with everything we have, but it also says to love our neighbor as ourselves, we need to love ourselves
not beating ourselves up
1 Cor 4:1-6 Paul did not judge himself, his conscience was clear -- Mike was blown away by that, Paul had killed Christians
Paul knew that he was not innocent
But Jesus had taken all that
Each will receive praise from God, it we accept His grace, we don't have to worry about the judgment to come
Ron Drabot
the singles are meeting in the park; the teens had prom last night -- a "Christian Prom" at the Embassy Suites - banquet dinner, stay at the hotel, buffet breakfast, teen service. People come from all over the Southeast for this
Revelations 14, 15 and 16
Revelations 14 vs. 1-5 the 144,000
symbols -- the dragon is Satan, he gives the power to the Roman Emperor
the 144,000 protected - they are victorious, blameless, pure
a complete and perfect number of God's people who will be saved
12 = God's people
1,000 = completeness
144 = 12 squared
Rev 14 vs. 6-13
angel = messenger
a message to Rome -- 1) fear God, respect God; 2) Rome is going to Fall
Babylon = Rome in the Old Testament, Babylon brutalized and terrorized God's people
need to understand the consequences of sin
a scary description alluding to the suffering in Hell in verses 11 and 12
It looks like worldly people are winning on earth, but their torment will go on forever
Rev 14 verses 14-20
God knows the Christians are suffering
He wants to give everyone a chance to repent, a patient God
God created us, He's going to take us out when he's ready
Who knows how many times God spared our lives so we would know him
We go through life thinking we're in charge, we put confidence and security on things in this world
7 trumpets stand for the warnings of God
Chapter 14 is the last warning God is giving Rome - that's it
a warning is a great demonstration of love
When an enemy came to a walled city, the watchman at the wall sounds the trumpet while the enemy is still far away to warn the city to prepare for danger
God warns us with the void and emptiness in our lives when we are not with him
God still sends warnings to us in hurricanes and earthquakes, he wants to save our souls
Chapter 15 verses 1-8
the victory of the faithful Christians
these are poor people, lost their privileges, their jobs, their loved ones. They were imprisoned
We have it tough, but not that tough. We live in a part of the world where we can worship God freely; we live in a great time and place
Chapter 15 is singing a song of praise to God in verses 3 and 4 -- celebration, rejoice, victorious
Chapter 16 - no more warnings
pours out the 7 bowls of judgment
The same types of things as the warnings, but they are final
Man lives his life not giving praise to God, but then gets mad at God when calamities come - although they've never given God the praise and love he deserves
We get mad at God when things don't work out
God was going to dry up the river so the enemies could come in
Armageddon - a great battle
some people believe it is still to come - futurists
in the Old testament, Armageddon was an actual place. Gideon defeated the Midianites with 300 there. King Saul and the Philistines fought there. It was a place actual battles were fought.
God says, this is it. The final battle. When God gets involved in a battle, its not much of a battle. God is victorious.
Two things to understand from this.
Ron believes for every person in this world:
1) God has given you a date with destiny
2) God wants to give you the desires of his heart
1) God has given you a date with destiny
The way we view the future shapes our current life
a weak, discouraging, negative future makes the same in the present
If we focus on ourselves, we will miss a great destiny
Need to look to the future
Victory in this life and the next
Psalm 34:3 exalt the Lord together
magnify the Lord
let him become bigger in my life
see who He really is
see his power, his love
let him become bigger and bigger
Chronicles of Narnia - they saw Aslan and said he was bigger, he said, no, you are just older, you realize how big I really am
We need to see how big God is, how powerful
If we realize how awesome God is, our problems become smaller
Ps 139:13-16 we were fearfully and awesomely made
Do we believe that?
God planned us out - where and when we would live
Ron doesn't like the labels put on kids - he used to teach middle school -- "emotionally handicapped children" was the label on his class
he doesn't like the title "illegitimate children" - he thinks there are illegitimate parents
Ps 139 - God planned every day of their lives
God had a date with destiny for every single person
Don't listen to the world, listen to God, magnify God
Acts 17
The Christians in Revelations, they wished they were sitting in cushy chairs at UNCC and not meeting in catacombs
we are all going through struggles
we need to magnify God, he has great plans
Mar 13, 1959 a wicked snowstorm, a mother ready to give birth. The mother had been pronounced dead at birth, but her mother stuck a spoon down her throat and she gagged, she was not dead. The world pronounced his mother dead. But she had a date with destiny. That's Ron's story. God had led us to this point right now.
Seek him with all our hearts. Get your life right, and begin to be used by God.
2) God wants to give you the desires of his heart
Psalm 37:4 delight yourself in the Lord, he will give you the desires of your heart
Give literally means conceived
It's not my wishes, but God will put the desires in your heart - his desires in my heart will be born
"I don't feel it"
"I don't have the desire"
the problem in that we don't delight ourselves in God
we need to surrender our lives, give ourselves over
He'll give you the desires
Eze 36:26
give you a new heart and his spirit
take the heart of stone and make it flesh
Charles Seabert "A Man After His Own Heart" observed a heart transplant in the hospital
a whole surgical team was working on removing the heart
a whole surgical team was working on inserting the heart in the new person waiting
The heart starts beating, the person can live
He attended a banquet of heart transplant people, they were so filled with gratitude
They wanted to honor the donor
It's not just physical, it's metaphysical
The recipients had new desires, new cravings, new habits -- cellular memory
They were given the heart of someone else
"What is it I can do for God?"
work harder to accept what God has done for me
God is my heart donor
need to be filled with gratitude
Have His heart, his desires
What's our albedo?
Albedo is the measurement of how much light a celestial body reflects. The moon has an albedo of .07, or 7% of the light that strikes the moon's surface is reflected. Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, has the highest albedo of any celestial body in our solar system. It reflects 99% of the light that hits its surface. In a similar way, we are called to reflect God - His compassion, His love. You cannot manufacture those things. You can only reflect them. Our love for God is nothing more and nothing less than a reflection of God's love for us.
What's our spiritual albedo? How much love comes from me?
We have a date with destiny. God has planned out our lives. He has a great purpose for us.
Let what God has done, is doing and will do reflect from our lives.