#3 Seeing Our Neighbor

series: Neighbor(ing)

title: Seeing Our Neighbor

teacher: Jacob Bender

date: March 5, 2017

scriptures: John 8:3-11, Genesis 2:9, Genesis 3:4-5, Genesis 3:17, Genesis 3:22-33, Psalm 106:23, Ezekiel 22:30, Revelation 22:1-4

#7 False Witnesses

Series: Realities

Title: False Witnesses

Date: November 1, 2015

Teacher: Jacob Bender

scriptures: Matthew 12:33-37, Proverbs 18:21, James 3:1-12, Proverbs 6:16-19, Proverbs 26:17-26, Romans 10:13-14, Matthew 27:46, James 4:6, John 3:16

“The things said in confidence, spread in confidence.”

False witness is the Hebrew word שָֽׁקֶר׃ šā·qěr (shek air) – and it means “a lie, or a breach of faith.”

It is so much more than just a lie. It is so much more than making something up. It is also an abuse of information. It is not being trustworthy. It is not controlling your tongue. It is lying, and it is gossip. And it destroys communities and it destroys churches, and it destroys trust faster than anything else I have ever seen.

It is the 9th commandment, and the Hebrew letter that represents nine is the letter “Tet” and the word picture for “Tet” is a picture of a snake. Now think about this. What does a snake represent? You can take this one all the way back to the fall of man… How does the serpent manage to get man to fall?

He bears false witness against God.

He convinces Eve, “yes, God said that, but that is not true. That is God’s paranoia that you are only one step behind him and if you eat of the fruit your eyes will be opened. If you eat of it, you will level the playing field.”

He lied about God. He made Eve think that God has an insecurity issue. He painted a picture that was not true, and she bought into that picture.

From the beginning of time entire worlds were being destroyed by the stupid words that are said. It is the devils only weapon, but unfortunately, for a lot of us, it is the only weapon he needs. So that is why we are taking an entire message to talk about it. Because words shape people.

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#7 Goodness

Date: August 16, 2015
Series: The Fruit of the Spirit
Title: Goodness
Teacher: Jacob Bender

scriptures: Ezekiel 22:30, Genesis 1:3-4, Genesis 1:27, Ephesians 2:10, Genesis 2:9, Genesis 3:5, Genesis 6:9, Genesis 15:6, Romans 4:3, Exodus 32, Genesis 6:17-18, Genesis 18:22-33, 1 Peter 2:20-22, John 8

Goodness.

I like to think of goodness as integrity, but with a little more punch. Typically when I think of integrity, one of the main words that comes to my mind is the word consistency. The person that you are in your home when nobody is around and nobody can see, is the same person that we see. You don’t put on a new self for the sake of the public.

But goodness adds on to that in several ways. Goodness is consistently doing the right thing, not just the same thing. It is doing the right thing when you are by yourself, and doing the right thing when you are in public. But it goes even beyond and strikes an even deeper core.

It is doing the right thing whether it is what is best for you, or it its not. Its making the right decision even when its not what you want, and even when it may have a negative affect on your life.

Goodness, as Paul uses it when he is listing the Fruit of the Spirit, is the Greek word agothosune and it means “Uprightness of Heart and Life.” Your noble heart is matched identically by your noble way of life.

As simple as this may sound as you read it in a few short sentences, there is a lot to this concept, and I encourage you to join us as we journey through it in our series “Fruit of the Spirit”

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#2 The Pretending Heart

DATE: May 24, 2015
TEACHERS: Jacob & Dawn Bender
SERIES: Intentions
TITLE: The Pretending Heart

SCRIPTURES: 1 John 1:5-10, Jeremiah 1:5, Isaiah 6, Genesis 2:16, Hebrew 6:17-19, Ephesians 6:20-21, Hebrews 4:13-16.

Who are you?
Where are you?
What are you hiding behind?
What are you hiding in front of?
Why are you hiding?

And when do we get to see the real you?

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