Sunday, December 28, 2008

 

Communion -- Mark Perez
Col 1:15-20   He is the source
God's fullness was squeezed into human form, even as an infant
he was exposed to bigotry, abandonment, things evil
It pleased God to squeeze into our nature, does it please us to squeeze ourselves into God's nature?
Do I squeeze myself into Jesus' nature, trimming myself where I don't fit?   or trimming Jesus off where I don't fit in him?
The more we trim Jesus away from us, the more needy we become.   We become a consumer of the kingdom rather than a contributor.
If we can rid ourselves of us, we can do greater things than Jesus.   We compromise on our total reckless faith in God, God still believes in the worst of us.   
Ask God what needs to be trimmed from me in 2009?

 

Ron Drabot
Single Sisters -- Col 1: 3-6   " 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel 6 that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth."
You are our inspiration --  Ron gave out flowers and chocolates to the single sisters

 

Eric and Paulette Sifford here today

 

In the news:   

BAL HARBOUR, Fla. - A baby Jesus statue is getting a Global Positioning System for Christmas. The statue, part of a nativity scene, will be equipped with the device after the previous statue went missing, even though it had been bolted down.   The Mary and Joseph statues will also be fitted with GPS devices.

IN STEP WITH THE SPIRIT
Gal 5:25   "25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
Theme for 2009 -- "in step with the Spirit" 
Contest -- one simple step that will be our reminder to get in step with the spirit
Describe our lives in 2008:    adventurous, exciting, inspirational, overwhelming, challenging, tough
Some here:
o   this is the first Christmas without a loved one
o   unemployed because of the economy
o   ill, or know people who are ill
o   last year had a 401k, this year have a 101k
Our lives are like the Olympic life games -- the pole vault -- represents the losses, defeats, discouragements, difficulties, problems.  
There are several things we can do with that pole
o  cast it aside / ignore it (not fulfilled, not victorious by ignoring it)
o  walk around life carrying the pole, not use it but holding on to it, reliving the mistakes (leads to bitterness, loneliness, separation from people)
o  use that pole, stick it in the ground and be propelled to a new level - learn from the problems, become a new person.   Go over the bar and become the person God created us to be.   Find the game in your pain.   Find your promotion in the commotion.   Make advances in all of our circumstances ( you have to say them out loud to truly appreciate them).    We're moving forward to the next spiritual level. 

 

1 Kings 18:20-21   prophet Elijah   in step with the Spirit of god and then not in step with the Spirit
history -- Ahab and Jezebel, three years no rain, offering to false God Baal on the mountain.   Elijah called on God and fire comes down.  
Elijah was bold - the people were neutral.    "life happens"  no, choices and decisions happen and they form your life.
You will be called by God to keep making decisions.  
Elijah orders the false prophets to be slaughtered. 
1 Kings 19:3   Ahab tells Jezebel what Elijah has done, she is mad, she threatens to kill Elijah, he runs for his life

 

Life changes all the time, we go through great victories
73 year old man makes a division 3 basketball team - Roane State Junior College Basketball Team -- he just wanted to do it, still had some eligibility left
106 year old
Mike  Dames birthday - turned 50
50 is not old, get over it

 

Elijah went into the desert, came to a broom tree (we're swept away by life), he sat down and prayed that he would die
He slept, an angel came, get up and eat (the angel said two times)
A mighty man  of God

 

To Stay in Step with the Spirit:

 

1  - rest in the spirit
2 - eat in the spirit
3 - drink in the spirit

 

1)   Rest in the spirit
We look back, wish we hadn't done certain things
Ps 46:10    10 "Be still, and know that I am God;
       I will be exalted among the nations,
       I will be exalted in the earth."
We need to be still in 2009 during all the commotion
We need physical rest, as Elijah did
We get discouraged and depressed
It's not just emotional, it's spiritual and biological
Our bodies are like fuse boxes -- when the circuits get overloaded, they shut off
God has designed us that way so we won't explode or catch on fire
We sometimes think it is only emotional
We must learn to stop and rest our bodies whenever we can
Rest in the Spirit
Heb 4:9-11   "9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience."
make every effort to enter that rest of God -- you must really think about this, make decision to rest
in the Old Testament, the land needed to rest every seven years (according to God's instruction)
for 490 years, they kept planting crops
they went into captivity for 70 years
he gave the land the rest it was supposed to have
Is 58:13-14   13 "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
       and from doing as you please on my holy day,
       if you call the Sabbath a delight
       and the Lord's holy day honorable,
       and if you honor it by not going your own way
       and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
 14 then you will find your joy in the LORD,
       and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land
       and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob."
       The mouth of the LORD has spoken.

receive the inheritance of Jacob, blessed and honored if you enter the rest.   When things are going on in life, need to stop and rest. 
Prov 26:4  "do not answer a fool according to his folly"  
be still and know who God is when around fools
You have to trust God
Isaiah 30:15    "15 This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:
       "In repentance and rest is your salvation,
       in quietness and trust is your strength,
       but you would have none of it."
How did Job get through losing everything if not resting in the Spirit?
How did Joseph get through if not resting in the spirit?
He didn't criticize those who betrayed him or doubt God.  
If I'm still, God will work his plan

 

story:   Nazi troops, making the Jews dig their own graves, then the troops shot and killed them, and they fell into the graves.   A boy was with his parents, he was covered in blood  but not hit by a bullet.   He stayed in the grave, covered by blood and dirt until nighttime.   He knocked on doors looking for help, but the people wouldn't help a little Jewish boy.   "I am the Jesus you say you love".    Matthew 25: 37-45 -- a woman broke down in tears, brought him into her home and raised him
How much do we miss because we're too busy with life?   We're not being Jesus to others.  
We miss being still in the Spirit and being Jesus in the moment because we're too busy, running everywhere.

 

2)  Eat of the Spirit
Elijah ate bread because Jesus was the bread of life
Sometimes we get religious but not righteous
Sometimes we get caught up in activity and not affection
If you don't know how to have a Quiet Time, Ron dares you to read every day, a few verses, and live it out
Pray for your enemy
Serve the poor
Love God with all your heart
Praise God like you've never praised Him before
Live it out
Matt 7: 21-23   21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

 

That's the religion, He never knew them
Are you living out the will of  God in your life right now?
We are stronger together
Special contribution - we've given for the last twenty years
We're tentative in one another relationships, we need to build each other up so God can bless us - we've grown 15% in the last few years because of our small groups
900 in church for the Christmas play
Ron's goal is to have 1000 every Sunday
Dt 8:3   "3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD."   man does not live on bread alone

 

3)  Drink of the Spirit
Drinking water is very good;  the earth is made up of mostly water; so are our bodies
Jesus said that he is the living water to the Samaritan Woman (John 4:1-26)  She couldn't give Jesus a drink because she was thirsty and didn't even know it
We fill up our life with dream houses, which become money pits, we strive to have the stuff
We fill ourselves with relationships, women realize men are losers and it doesn't fill you up (Ron is putting monopoly houses and figures in a bottle)
We want the dream car, the money
We fill our lives with things
Look at my life, I can't get anything more in
Fills the bottle with water -- we're meant to be filled up with living water, there's always room for Jesus
In 2009, we need to rest, eat and drink of the Spirit
R = rest
E = eat
D = drink
a RED year
we're going to grow this year
Ron's girls had only had water in Romania, now Americanized -- we need living water