#9 Imitators of God

series: Love Incorruptible

title: #9 Imitators of God

date: June 25, 2017

teacher: Jacob Bender

scriptures: Ephesians 5:1-14, Genesis 6:5, Genesis 1-3, Genesis 4:6-7, 

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One thing Drew always says, and he says it about the most simple things, (it's hilarious) is he says: “This changes everything.” He said it on Thursday, I told him at Kids Club “we have a slip and slide today” and he said: “This changes everything.” 

That is exactly the way that we should look at the gospel. This truly is the one thing, that changes everything. 

and the thing that it should produce in you, probably more than anything else: is Thanksgiving. It is the word “eucharisteō” (you-har-estay-o) - bundled into this Greek word are the Greek words charis and chara which means “grace” and “joy” - when you understand how every finite detail of your life all the way down to your salvation is grace, it produces unspeakable joy, which equates to thankfulness. 

 and when that Thanksgiving is genuine,  the behavior side of things begins to happen automatically. 

Not because you aren’t trying to do the right thing… part of growing up in Christ means learning how to live your life with INTENTION… but the difference between the old and the new self is: the old self WANTS to give way to the flesh… the new self WANTS to resist it. 

#1 Beginning with Grace

Series: The Narrative of Grace
Title: Beginning with Grace
Date: November 15, 2015
Teacher: Jacob Bender

scriptures: Matthew 1:1-17, Genesis 12, Genesis 38, Joshua 2, Hosea 6:6, 1 John 3:18

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Do you ever find yourself keeping score of failures? Or do you tend to assign a guilt you have to some current life circumstance?

I am alone because __________

I can’t go home because __________

I’ll never do that because __________

I don’t deserve grace because __________

But what if I were to tell you that the because doesn’t matter?

In fact, the only BECAUSE that does matter is That Jesus loves you BECAUSE you are his child. I try to tell my daughters that, as often as I can… Milly I love you…

“I know” she’ll say.

And I don’t do this every time, but sometimes, when I am at the top of my parenting game,  I will ask her “Do you know why I love you?

“No”

Because you are my daughter. You are my daughter…

I love her because she is my child.

Well you are children of God. And nothing can change that. The bible says that nothing separates us from the love of God. Not death nor life..

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39 NIV)

The because does not matter. Because nothing can not separate us from the love of God any more than anything else.

You think you are jacked up? That God can’t use you anymore?

Look no further than the first of names on the list we read at the beginning… the names of those in JESUS’ family line…

Mathew one… The lineage… A genealogy was something that told people who you were… There was a sense of pride in where you came from, and the fact that God chose this particular family to be the one to birth Jesus into has great significance.

These people weren’t just jacked up like sometimes I think I am jacked up. These people were JACKED UP.

We invite you to join us as we explore this jacked up family for the six weeks leading up to Christmas. 

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#3 Joy

Date: July 19, 2015
Series: The Fruit of the Spirit
Title: Joy
Teacher: Jacob Bender

scriptures: John 16:20-22, John 16:16, James 1:2-4, Nehemiah 8:10, John 8:58, Philippians 4:11, Galatians 5, Philippians 1:21, Proverbs 10:28, 1 Thessalonians 4:13, Luke 22:14-20, Hebrews 12:2, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

What is Joy?

It is the Greek word Chara (har-a) and at the surface it means to be exceedingly glad. But it is not just happiness on steroids… Happiness is external and fleeting, Joy is internal and constant. It can’t be taken from you. Joy is not circumstantial. Just like the mother having a baby… it cant be stopped if you have the Spirit. There is no way it will not come if you are in Jesus.

What brings Joy? 

Proverbs 10:28 says “The Hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectations of the wicked will perish.”

HOPE. Hope brings joy. The hope of the righteous. The hope that there really is so much more out there than this dying earthly kingdom that we are in but not of.

MORE:

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