#8 The New Self

series: Love Incorruptible

title: The New Self

date: June 11, 2017

teacher: Jacob Bender

scriptures: Ephesians 4:17-32, Matthew 7:12, Ecclesiastes 7:2, 2 Corinthians 5:14, 

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This section begins by working on the issue of ME. The issue of YOU. 

Paul tells us to put OFF the old self… put away everything that used to be us… the former life… the corruption… the greed that drives most of our lives. Put it all away. 

That used to be your life… That is not your life anymore. 

You have learned Christ… Christ has done something NEW in you. 

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#2 In Christ (part two)

series: Love Incorruptible

title: In Christ (part two)

date: April 30, 2017

teacher: Jacob Bender

scriptures: Ephesians 1:3-13, Acts 19, Acts 20:29

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

series: A week to live

title: Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

date: April 9, 2017

teacher: Jacob Bender

scriptures: Mark 11:12-25, Luke 6:40, Luke 11:11-14, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Matthew 25:14-30, Ezekiel 17, Mark 11:27

#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

#3 The Sign of Jonah

series: Jonah

title: The sign of Jonah

date: October 30, 2016

teacher: Jacob Bender

scriptures: Jonah 1:15- Jonah 2 (whole thing, Jonah 3:1-2, Proverbs 13:12, Matthew 12:38-41, Mark 4:35, Jonah 1:11-12

is not this the fast I choose?

title: Is not this the fast I choose?

teacher: Jacob Bender

date: September 11, 2016

scriptures: Isaiah 58:1-12, Hebrew 4:15-16, Matthew 25, Jeremiah 29, 

This message was given on the 15 year anniversary of September 11.

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#15 Judging

series: Red Letter City

title: Judging

date: July 24, 2016

teacher: Jacob Bender

scriptures: Matthew 7:1-6, Acts 5, 1 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 2:11, 1 Corinthians 4:5, 1 Samuel 24:5, Numbers 15:37-41, Matthew 9, Luke 8, Matthew 13:45-46, 1 John 4:16-17

#13 Treasures

series: Red Letter City

title: Treasures

date: July 10, 2016

teacher: Jacob Bender

scriptures: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Acts 20:24, Matthew 6:19-24 (main passage), 1 Timothy 6:18-19, Malachi 3:16, Genesis 11, Revelation 18, Matthew 23:23, Malachi 3:10, Revelation 18, Revelation 13:17, Luke 16:11, 2 Corinthians 6:10, Proverbs 27:20

#5 Lust

series: Red Letter City

title: Lust

teacher: Jacob Bender

date: May 15, 2016

scriptures: Matthew 5:27-30, Matthew 23:3, Matthew 23:25, Matthew 23:27, Luke 8:17, Luke 12:3, Romans 2:16, Genesis 39, Jeremiah 7:30-31, Ephesians 2:10, Luke 22:15, Psalm 51:10, James 1:17. 

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I remember picking up my kids from school on Spring afternoon...  it was just a beautiful day outside and we were driving home. and on the way home, there is this stop sign at Gratiot that we have to stop at and sometimes its really easy to turn onto Gratiot and other times its a total zoo… so much traffic just flying by and the only way to merge onto the street is to turn into the left turn lane and then make your way over… it was one of those days… and even after I had merged into the lane, it only took a little while before the side of traffic I was on came to almost a stop, just tons of cars, and on the other side cars were just FLYING by.

and I looked over, and standing in the middle lane, the left turn lane, was a man just standing there on his phone, laughing. Just standing there in the middle of traffic. He wasn’t really even trying to cross the street, he looked like he was just enjoying a conversation in the middle of traffic, hanging out between the yellow lines. People were trying to get into the left lane from both directions and he was preventing them. It was almost like he didn’t even notice what it was that he was surrounded by… like he didn’t hear the horns or understand the frustration he was causing actual drivers whom that part of the road is supposed to belong to. 

He was so engaged in the world of his seemingly happy conversation, that he paid no attention to the potentially deadly environment that he was literally standing in the center of himself, or the way it messed up other people just trying to get through their commute. and I merged onto the highway and moved on, uncertain of what happened to that guy. But I know this. What he was doing was causing grief and frustration to others… probably unbeknownst to him. and if someone who needed to turn got over and didn’t see him… 

he wouldn’t be laughing on the phone anymore.

It had the potential to fall apart very quickly. 

It was a fine line he was walking on, one that he willingly gave up a certain level of control over his own safety for, to engage in this moment privately on the phone, yet surrounded by hundreds of cars who could take him out at any moment whether on purpose or on accident. I think that sometimes we find ourselves in trouble, and we don’t even realize it. We don’t realize that we are hurting others. We don’t realize the danger that we are in. We are think things like, “Oh, it is only in my mind… it will never go beyond this… and its not hurting anyone.” and we forget that devastating reality behind iniquity…

“whatever your eye hooks to, multiplies.” 

and you can think that you have your own little private life in your head and think that its not affecting anyone but I assure you, that as whatever your eye hooks to, begins to multiple your life will begin to change. And you may not notice it right away, but it will wear on those around you. It will cause grief to people and they may not even be able to figure out why. But the truth is… that the reason that Jesus deals so dramatically with the Spirit of the law is because he knows that where your thoughts go… and what you dwell on, is a window into what you are becoming. 

So Jesus says “lets cut this off at the source.”

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#4 Anger

series: Red Letter City

title: Anger

teacher: Jacob Bender

date: May 1, 2016

scriptures: Matthew 5:21-26, Psalm 145:8-9, 1 John 4:8, Ephesians 4:25-27, Ecclesiastes 7:9, Hebrews 12:14-15,  Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5, Ephesians 2, 1 John 4:19-21

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This is an issue that a lot of people deal with… and for most of us, the way we deal with it is to stuff it. The problem is that the things you stuff tend to grow roots in the grounds of your heart… Hebrew calls it a “root of bitterness,” - what happens is, if you never process your feelings, you will get so used to having them that you will begin to justify them. Because they will feel natural to you. And what Jesus is saying here is that when that happens, things can get very ugly very very quickly. 

and then there is this: 

A lot of people have what I call an “Angry God syndrome.”

They have this idea in their head that God is mad at everybody all the time… and they paint this picture of a God who is upstairs waiting, rubbing his hands together in excitement, licking his lips in anticipation of the moment when he gets to finally bring judgment on our nation, and on this group of people, and on this type of person. and the bible does talk about God being angry with wickedness, and there is plenty of talk in the bible about God’s judgment…

But here is the issue.

and this is why the sermon on the mount is so incredibly crucial to our lives... Because people believed all sorts of things about God back then… things that were not right. 

Things that were not love. 

“God is love.”

— 1 John 4:8

AND people today believe all sorts of things about God that are not right. Things that are not love.

and whatever you think that God is like, if you truly believe you are a follower of him then you are going to try and be that… Isn’t that what Jesus says in Luke? A disciple is not better than his teacher, but he will be like him. 

So we have this nation of “Christians” who want to be like God…

but they think God is angry all the time!

and this leads to all sorts of problems. Because if God hates this type of person, then you can hate this type of person. 

Because we are just trying to be like God. 

So… as people who have Jesus in our lives… who are disciples of Jesus and who want to be more like the God that we serve… I think that it is incredibly important that we understand what God is like. 

Does God ever get angry? Yes.

Is God living in a constant disposition of anger toward the world? No. 

the rest is in the sermon. 

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#2 Death of Hope

title: Death of Hope

series: Lets talk about Hope

teacher: Jacob Bender

date: March 20, 2016

scriptures: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, Ephesians 2:10, Isaiah 53, 1 John 4:10, Leviticus 16:10, Leviticus 16:22, Hebrews 12:2, Matthew 28:18

BABY DEDICATION:

#1 Why are we afraid?

series: Cultivate the Romance

title: Why are we afraid?

date: January 3, 2016

teacher: Jacob Bender

scriptures: 1 John 4:18-19, Psalm 2:7-8, Psalm 27:1, Philippians 2:3-4, Luke 1:28, Isaiah 9:2

Fear is an incredibly motivating factor in our world right now, and I have watched over the last several months especially, how fear has actually dictated the way that people treat one another. The way that they accept one another and welcome one another.

The bible has a lot to say about fear, because the reality is, nothing can possibly keep you from being what you are supposed to be in Christ, and nothing can possibly keep you from loving people the way you are supposed to love them in Christ, and nothing can possibly keep you from doing the thing which God has put on your heart to accomplish, more than fear. It has infected my brain in the deepest ways, has already caused some of my vision to flutter, it has gotten in the way of my love.

And if there is one thing that I am determined to do differently as your Pastor here at Courage Church this year, it is this, I am not going to let fear have a voice at the table. I am not going to let fear stop me from trying anything. I would rather strike out swinging, than by watching a home run pitch fly by me while I stand idle, knowing that was the one that had the potential to go over the fence. That had the potential to be the home run.

And I would encourage you to join me this year as you set your goals and you pray about your dreams and the God sized vision for your life,  to believe that in Christ, we can do anything.

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