#4 Grace in Exile

series: The narrative of Grace

title: Grace in Exile

teacher: Jacob Bender

date: December 6, 2015

scriptures: Matthew 1, Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 41:41, Jeremiah 29:11, Jeremiah 29:4-6, Leviticus 25:3-4, 2 Chronicles 36:18-21, Jeremiah 29:7, 1 Corinthians 9:22, Jeremiah 29:8-10, Jeremiah 29:11-14

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

This is one of the most quoted verses in the entire bible. Everybody makes this verse their own.

They speak it over their life every time things get hard and suddenly the certain things begin to feel uncertain. They speak it over their friends every time someone feels like they are in a rut, or not where they should be, or not understanding why things are they way that they are in their life. So they say “I know the plans that I have for you…”

“maybe you don’t understand your circumstances, but God has a plan, and its good.”

That is the idea. And it is true. You should speak Jeremiah 29:11 over your life, but you should speak Jeremiah 29:4-10 over your life too. And you should speak Jeremiah 29:12-14 over your life too.

Because one verse sandwiched in the middle of an amazing set of scriptures says something incredible, but everything that it is nestled between is your guide for how you get verse 11. It is how you actually see that hope and that future that God has laid out for you.

It is your guide for how you, as a citizen of Detroit but ultimately as a citizen of the city of God, can claim your inheritance as an heir of the King.

But it may be different than you think.

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#3 idols and adultery

series: Realities

title: idols & adultery

teacher: Jacob Bender

date: September 27, 2015

scriptures: Exodus 20, Judges 2:1-5, Psalm 37:4, Judges 2:11-13, Jeremiah 5:7, Jeremiah 3:8, Exodus 32, Exodus 34, John 8:1-11, Isaiah 45:2, 2 Corinthians 5:17

Exodus 34:14 says this: “(For you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),”

Now, when the Ten Commandments were given the first time, the second command said this same thing… I am a jealous God. But the second time it is given, it actually says “the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”

That seemed like grounds for digging a little deeper.

The word Jealous, is a peculiar name for God. It is the Hebrew word qanna’ (can-ah), it is a word that only speaks of God and is not used in human terms, and it means that “God doesn’t bear any rivals” another translation puts the verse this way: “For you must worship no other gods, but only Jehovah, for he is a God who claims absolute loyalty and exclusive devotion.” (The Living Bible)

Its like in a marriage. If my wife says, “Hey, I am going out with Steve today.” Heck no, you aren’t going out with Steve today. Who is Steve? It doesn’t even matter. You aren’t going to be spending time with other dudes. She could say to me, “we are just friends, and you hate going shopping and Steve is cool with it.”

Now, She would never do that, but that would be the automatic response from me if it ever came up. I wouldn’t even need a moment to think about it. The answer is no. I am jealous for her… but it is not because of this Steve guy, or anybody else. It is all because of Dawn.

I am jealous for her, no matter what she is doing. Because I do not bear competitions. I do not bear rivals. I already won this one, and nobody else even has a chance.

It is obvious that most people would never deal with a marriage to a spouse who was constantly unfaithful, yet that is exactly what God continuously went through over and over and over again with the Hebrew people.

The word adultery, in Hebrew as it is used in Exodus 20:14 is the word na’aph (nah apth) and it means “to break wedlock.” or the obvious translation is what it is translated as, simply, “to commit adultery.”

But what is fascinating is that it is the same Hebrew word used in Jeremiah 3:8 and Jeremiah 5:7 when it says that Israel “committed adultery” against God by their idol worship.

And I also thought that this was interesting:

Most people (who have put any thought into it) assume that the English word adultery comes from the word adult. Like, “maybe this is a bad thing, but we are adults, so if it is consensual…”

But it actually comes from the Latin word adulterare, which means “to alter, or corrupt.”

This is not an “adult” thing to do, in fact it is incredibly immature. You are altering the design that God created… You are corrupting what was supposed to be. You are corrupting what God created it to be.

Adultery is an incredibly hard top to talk about. Its a hard topic to study, or to even convince yourself that you need to study it, but God put it in the Ten Commandments for a reason… because this hits home, in one way or another, for just about everyone. And God himself is not excluded from that.

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#6 Kindness

Series: The Fruit of the Spirit
Title: Kindness
Teacher: Jacob Bender
Date: August 9, 2015

scriptures: Luke 10:25-37, Hebrews 10:24, Isaiah 32:8, Matthew 5:42, Romans 7:10, Matthew 7:22, 1 Chronicles 23:28-32, John 11:1-44, Matthew 9:35-38, Matthew 15:32, Ephesians 4:32, Romans 2:4, Romans 5:1

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#5 The Layered Heart

DATE: June 14, 2015
TEACHING: Jacob Bender
SERIES: Intentions
TITLE: The Layered Heart

SCRIPTURES: Philippians 2:1-13, Philippians 1:27, Ephesians 5:22-23, Galatians 6:2, Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, Genesis 2:18, James 5:17, Isaiah 53:3, Luke 5:16, John 14:12-13, 1 John 3:16-17, John 13:35

We have come to the end of our first series. I have been so encouraged by all of the feedback everyone has been giving us through this series, and the reports of the healing it has been for peoples lives. I know it has impacted me greatly to study it and to put it together.

Last week, Dawn talked about transparency, which could not have been a better lead-in to the Layered Heart. As we go through life, tragedy, heartbreak, disappointment, etc. we tend to put layers around our hearts… because nobody wants to be hurt over and over and over again so we put up a layer against a person… “They will never get through again… They will never hurt me again…”

but before long, somebody else, or something else, will let you down. And you put up another layer.

And soon enough, you decide to block everyone out from that part of your life, from that part of your heart, and transparency gets thrown out the window and your whole life becomes about the appearance of strength. Nobody can hurt a strong person, right?

The layered heart (or whatever you want to call it) is the number one killer of community. It stops community dead in its tracks. But Paul tells us that we should bare one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2)… how are we suppose to bare each others burdens, if we don’t know what they are.

He tells us that we should not only look out for our interests but also for the interests of others (Philippians 2:4), and he tells the Philippian church that he hopes to hear reports of them “standing firm in ONE spirit, with one mind, STRIVING SIDE BY SIDE for the faith of the gospel (Philippians 1:27).

I love this quote by Paul David Tripp, he says “Autonomous Christianity never works, because our spiritual life was designed by God to be a community project.”

This whole series has been about working out our minds, so we can be effective in our world. Well the church is the hope of the world. Discipleship happens in community. Life transformation happens in the context of healthy relationships… and as we work out the Intentions of our hearts, lets do it standing side by side together, striving for the faith of the gospel. Lets do it understanding that two are better than one, and a threefold cord is not quickly broken (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12).

Why do we do what we do?

We do it because we are the bride of Christ.
We are his representation here on Earth.
We are his ambassadors to the city of Detroit.

We do it because Jesus humbled himself by becoming obedient, to the point of death (Phil. 2:8).

We do it because the local church is the hope of the world. And that is us.

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#3 The Intentional Heart

DATE: May 31, 2015
TEACHING: Jacob Bender
SERIES: Intentions
TITLE: The Intentional Heart

SCRIPTURES: Proverbs 20:6, Proverbs 22:1, Matthew 6:1-2, Matthew 19:16-22, Luke 18:18-30, Psalm 112:1, Matthew 25:31-46, Matthew 23, Jeremiah 31:33, Isaiah 32:8, Proverbs 19:17, Psalm 112, 1 John 3:16

Love. Serve. Repeat.

“a generous man devises a generous plan, and on generosity he shall stand” (Isaiah 32:8)”

Love. Serve. Repeat.

“Whoever is generous to the poor LENDS to the Lord… and HE will repay him for his deed.” (Proverbs 19:17)

Love. Serve. Repeat.

“Bare one another’s burdens, because that is how you fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)

Love. Serve. Repeat.

Love. Serve. Repeat.

And before long, its just you.

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