I was at a clogging convention with the Heaven Bound Cloggers, so I wasn’t at church to take notes, but Ms. Cookie was nice enough to send me her notes to post on Word Keeper. Thank you Ms. Cookie!
This week, we take a break from the through the Bible series and focus on giving.
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2 Corinthians 8:1-11
A major focus of Paul’s third missionary journey was an offering he was collecting for the church in Jerusalem (Romans 15:25-27). … This was a 2 year campaign of taking offerings from the Macedonia and Achaia churches in Greece to help the poorer church in Jerusalem. They considered it a blessing to share their material possessions with the Jews because they had been blessed spiritually. If you have been blessed spiritually you should give financially.
Paul told the Corinthians how to give to this offering (1 Corinthians 16:1-12).
Give consistently. You will become generous when your giving becomes a habit or a pattern.
Give proportionately. Give a % according to your income. We don’t all make the same so we can’t all give the same.
The Corinthian church was having problems and had stopped giving so Paul wrote to them again in 2 Corinthians.
Five principles that will help you become a generous person:
Don’t wait until you become prosperous to become generous. (2 Corinthians 8:1-3). … Having more money will not make you a better giver. Poor people usually give the most. Paul used the Macedonian church as a role model, the poor Christians gave generously out of their poverty.
View it as a privilege to share in God’s work (2 Corinthians 8:4). … The Macedonian church begged to be able to give to help out the church in Jerusalem. It is a privilege to be able to be a part of reaching people for God.
Give yourself to the Lord first (2 Corinthians 8:5-6). … Give yourself to the Lord before you give money to the Lord. V.6 Titus was the Stewardship Campaign Coordinator.
View your growth in giving as a tangible indicator of your spiritual health (2 Corinthians 8:7-8). … The Corinthian church was proud of their talents and gifts. Paul told them he was not commanding them to give; he was testing the sincerity of their love by comparing it to the earnestness of others.
Consider what Jesus has given you (2 Corinthians 8:9). … Now Finish the Work! This is the theme verse for our new 3 year building campaign which will start June 3rd. (For anyone who doesn’t go to our church, we are about to embark on another financial campaign to help finish construction of our new building.)
After every service we give everyone a chance to give in two ways. First, we ask you to give yourself to the Lord; by accepting Jesus, baptism and/or joining our church. Second, we give everyone the chance to give an offering to help support the Kingdom.
There are three key concepts in the book of Joshua:
God gives His people the land (1:1-3). … The people of Israel didn’t deserve or earn this land; it was a gift from God.
The people must take possession of what God offers (1:11). … God wants to give the land to the Israelites. but the Israelites had to take possession of it. Their was effort required. The people of Israel had to be faithful and believe that God would give them the land.
God wants His people to enjoy rest (1:13). … The Israelites finally have a place they can call their own. They can finally be at peace in their own towns.
All three key words are found in Joshua 1:15. … God wants to give you victory. You have to take possession through fath and obedience. The reward is rest; you can have peace in good times and in bad times.
There are two main sections in the book of Joshua:
Conquering the land (Joshua 1-12). … God changed how each battle was won. God rarely uses the same method twice because He wants the faith to be in Him, not methods … Joshua 11:12, 14, 20 – One of the reasons God had the Israelites totally destroy evryone is so that thete would be no chance of compromising their beliefs by worshiping the gods of the people they conquered.
Occupy the land (Joshua 13-22). … Now that the land has been conquered, the land must be divided among the tribes of Israel properly. The twelve tribes have to eliminate anyone left from the people who were conquered. … It’s a process, much like fighting a forest fire. The big fire has to be put out, but there still may be smaller fires that need to be extinguished. Being a Christian is the same way. When you become a Christian, it’s like the first twelve chapters of Joshua. But now that you’ve won some great victories over sin, the second stage of the Christian life is not as exciting.
The three key concepts are repeated near the end of the book (21:43-44). These concepts apply to your life (Hebrews 4:8-11; Matthew 11:28-29). … Rest could be referring to Heaven, but it is also referring to present tense. You can have rest, peace, tranquility now. You just have to take possession of the gift that God has offered to all of us.
Deuteronomy is a second time through the law, a review of the law
The Old Testament books most quoted in the New Testament are Genesis, Isaiah, Psalms, and Deuteronomy.
Jesus quoted Deuteronomy three times to the devil in the wilderness
Deuteronomy contains the three farewell semo of Moses:
Remember Your History (Deuteronomy 1-4) … 4:9-10 – Do not forget what God has done for you. Make sure your children know what God has done for you.
Review Your Covenant Responsibilities (Deuteronomy 5-28) … 5:1-3 – Make the covenant your own. You cannot rely on the Faith of your parents to keep you on the right track and get you into Heaven. You must decide to take on the responsibilities of the covenant for yourself … 6:4-7 – Your covenant responsibility is to love God. By loving God, all aspects of your life will show it.
Renew Your Covenant Relationship (Deuteronomy 29-30) … 29:12-13; 30:11-16, 19-20 – You have to make the dicision. Nobody is out of reach of the Salvation that God offers. We have a choie between life and death, a choice between blessings and curses. Choose life!
Commit to do these three things (Deuteronomy 30:20):
Love the Lord your God
Listen to his voice
Hold fast to him
The book of Deuteronomy is about renewing and recommitting to your relationship with Christ. … I our service we had a time where people could stand and say something and recommitt to God. One of them mentioned recommitting to Christ daily. Another said she would recommitt and stop just trying to follow rules but to build a stronger relationship with Christ.
Conclusion: The Transfer of Leadership from Moses to Joshua (Deuteronomy 31-34)
Genesis 12-50 is the story of four men called the Patriarchs:
1. Abraham (12-23).
2. Isaac (24-26).
3. Jacob (27-36).
4. Joseph (37-50).
Three key words in Genesis 12:1-3 help us understand the rest of the Bible:
1. God will reveal Himself in the land of Canaan (v. 1, vv. 4-7). … Land is important in salvatio history. Places in the Bible are important. That’s why so many Bibles have maps in them. Canaan would later become Israel.
2. God will reveal Himself through one nation, the descendants of Abram (v. 2; Psalm 147:19-20). … Abram (Abraham) was promised that his descendents would be a great nation. He and his wife were past child-bearing age and had no children, but God proomised them a child. … God revealed Himself through only one nation, Israel, and no other nation.
3.God will bless the world through this one nation in this one place (v. 3; Matthew 1:1-2).
How does thus apply to your life?
God has a plan for your life. He has been working thousands of years to bless you through Jesus.
1. The beginning of the universe (Genesis 1-2). … God is eternal. Everything except God had a beginning. Science now agrees that eveything had a beginning. The question is “What caused the beginning?”. … Humans were made different from every other creature. We were made in the image of God and given authority over the rest of the creatures of the world. We were also created with free will; we can make our own choices.
2. The beginning of sin and its consequences (Genesis 3-11). … The bad thing about having free choces is that we make bad choices. Adam and Eve were tempted by the serpent ant sinned against God. After the original sin, it only got worse. The second generotion of humans brought the first murder. Not long after that, we see poligamy, so marriage has already been disgraced. … Then God sees that mankind is corrupt all the way through and so he floods the Earth, leaving only Noah and his family as the sole representatives of mankind. … Get rid of all the bad people and the world will be better right? Nope. It got worse. After the flood, Noah got drunk and laid down, completely exposed. The Tower of Babel was a low point in the history of mankind. God seperated
3. The beginning of salvation history (Genesis 12-50). … God begins to reveal Himself to us. He gives us ways to redeem our lives. This is the beginning of the story of Jesus.
The book of Genesis tells you three basic facts you need to know about yourself:
1. You are valuable because of creation.
2. You are marred by sin.
3. You can be redeemed by Christ.
2012: The Year of the Bible
Bible Fact:
The Bible has 66 books. It is divded into two parts: Old Testament and New Testament.
Hate what is evil and cling to what is good (v. 9). … Genuine love is discerning.We are to hate sin. Don’t hate the person, the sinner; hate the evil, the sin. Loving people don’t have to love everything. … Maybe you’re not involved in a sin (like pornography or gossip), but you think you would enjoy it. That’s a start, but you need to get to where you hate that sin. … Fill your life with what is good. Change your focus to what is good. Have a marriage-like commitment to what is good.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil (v. 17). … The Christian is to resist retaliation and not lower themselves to evil. … Do not take revenge even though it is our natural inclinaion. … Vengance belongs to God (v. 19). Maybe we crowd out God’s wrath when we take revenge.
Do not be overcome by evil. Overcome evil with good (v. 21). … Greek word “overcome” is where Nike gets their name. Don’t be niked by evil. Nike evil with good. … How?
With your prayer and words (v. 14). … Norma McCorvey was Roe in Roe vs. Wade. She fought to legalize abortion and won in the supreme court case of Roe vs. Wade. She then started working at an abortion clinic and a pro-life clinic moved in next door. In one of McCorvey’s many confrontations with the worker’s from pro-life clinic, she spit in Anne Hollacher. Hollacher’s response was simplyto smile. When McCorvey asked how Hollacher cold look at that way, Hollacher replied, “Jesus loves you and so do I. And I forgive You.” This response infuriated McCorvey and had it not been for sudden severe chest pains, several workers would have had to pull her off of Hollacher. … However, later in her life, she changed. She came to the conclusion that she had been wrong all those years that she spent fighting to legalize abortion. The primary reason for this change was love from other people. One person who especially touched her heart was a young girl who was very straightforward about her Christian beliefs. The young girl prayed for McCorvey every morning and asked her to come church more than a few times. McCorvey finally went to church at her young friend’s request. At that service, the pastor ended his sermon by asking, “is anyone here tired of living a sinner’s life?” McCorvey felt compelled to raise her hand, so she cautiously raised her hand and spoke with the pastor afterwards. Now McCorvey is a Christian who is 100% pro-life. … You can read McCorvey’s testimony on her website called Roe No More. McCorvey also has a book called “Won By Love”
With your actions (v. 20). If you want to get back at your enemy, get back with kindness. Do something good for someone who hurt you. This can affect them more than any harsh word or action. … The story of Elizabeth Elliot and Rachel Saint is amazing. If you haven’t already heard it, I encourage you to either listen to it from the audio of this sermon or read it. Even if you know the story, I encourage you to do same.
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