Author: Pastor Rick

Today is Palm Sunday and Vision Sunday, a great time to refocus!

On the first Palm Sunday the crowds, and even Jesus’ own disciples, didn’t really understand the plan.

John 12:12-18

John 19:15

They were merely worshiping their vision for who Jesus should be!

Today we are talking about bringing worship back to our communities!

►►LEARN Worship – John 4:24

worship   to express or show reverence and adoration to God

1. Words spoken, written, sung, etc
2. Gestures like lifting hands or clapping hands, bowing, dancing, etc
3. Obedience, which is perhaps the highest form of worship
4. Actions that display who He is, like serving, showing love, etc

►►PRACTICE Worship

• Worship can be your war song, a psychological weapon sending a message to the enemy!
• Learn your solo!

►►REPEAT your story, what you have seen and heard!

Call attention to God’s work in a situation, His faithfulness, care, presence, peace, blessings, etc.

Matthew 11:4-5

The series wrap-up:
Fill your world with prayer!
Fill your world with promise!
Fill your world with praise!

LEARN

You gotta have something before you can give it away!

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Your mind is a huge battlefield so even when you don’t feel like your soul is getting much out of it keep feeding your mind!!

There are thousands of promises in the Bible. Let’s just talk about three great ones:

Matthew 28:20

Mark 9:23

John 14:3

PRACTICE

Matthew 24:35

If the Bible is the Word of God, it trumps our experiences!

Three examples of how to practice God’s Word in your life:

Psalm 119:11
The Word of God is what Jesus used against temptation. Matthew 4:3-10

1 Peter 2:24

Philippians 4:19

REPEAT – How we repeat this in our communities:

• On social media
• When someone has a problem, need or struggle, respond with a promise from God’s Word
• When you have the floor – it should be impossible for us as Christians to speak publicly without mentioning God
• Explain salvation – Roman 10:9-10

My closing challenge to you:
Go to social media and post a scripture promise.
Or call someone right now that you kow needs a scripture promise.

You have to have something before you can give it away!

LEARN – What is prayer?

• Prayer is talking to God – John 16:23
• Prayer is wrestling with God – Genesis 32:28
  Ephesians 3:20

When God wins, you overcome!

• Prayer is aligning our hearts with God’s heart – 1 John 5:14-15

PRACTICE – How to pray – Ephesians 6:12, 18

• Identify the darkness!
• Take it to the streets!
• Pray in the Spirit 

Romans 8:26

Article by J D Greear, President Southern Baptist Convention

LEARN, PRACTICE, REPEAT – Fill your world with prayer!

This is not a time for fear or retreat – John 14:27

This is a time for the church to be forward in prayer, helping, protecting, assisting, etc!

How to take it to the streets:
– Start by saying grace – baby steps if you’re just getting started
– Promise to pray – Make a note! Don’t break the promise!
– Offer to pray with friends right then
– Ask for opportunity!
– Cover situations in prayer, like the coronavirus!

Limbo is a bad place to live – it’s not Living the Dream!

Hebrews 9:15, Hebrews 12:24

What good is a new covenant if I’m not going to walk in new joy, power, strength, wisdom, success, victory, purpose…?

• It is not enough to attend a church that believes and preaches Jesus
• If nothing is changing in your marriage, your relationships, your children, your job, your walk with Jesus – it’s time for some big choices!

A Christian parent’s #1 goal should be to spend eternity with their children.
– The best way to ensure that is to help them know Jesus intimately.
– And the way to do that is to make Jesus a priority in their life right now.

In your home does Jesus look like Lord, leftovers or something in between?
Do you treat Sunday worship as an awesome, deeply moving, powerful and fulfilling opportunity or an option?
Based on what they see in your life would your kids say Jesus is someone to be worshipped or to be worked in when convenient?
Would your kids say Jesus is part of your life or the center of your life?
When it comes to your home is Jesus a guest or the architect?
Is Biblical literacy a goal in your home or something other families do?
Is your home sitting on a foundation of faith in Jesus that can stand any storm or at the mercy of whatever circumstances hit you this week?

What choices do you need to make in your home to raise kids that you’ll spend eternity with?

Three questions about friendships:

Who are you in the elevator with?

Are you going up or down?

Does the relationship make you a better spouse, parent, neighbor, friend, employee or employer, etc?

Ecclesiastes 4:12, 1 Corinthians 15:33

The Jesus decision

Romans 10:9-10

Matthew 6:33

Make the choice to incorporate Jesus into your whole life!

Choose to pray about everything

Philippians 4:6, James 5:16

If you won’t pray about it don’t gripe about it.

Choose to believe

2 Corinthians 10:5

A community is a group of living things sharing the same environment. They usually have shared interests. In human communities, people have some of the same beliefs and needs, and this affects the identity of the group and the people in it.

Just as a dream house is at its most valuable in the right neighborhood, your spiritual house is at its most effective in the right community.

What does the Bible say about community?

Colossians 3:15

Matthew 18:20

Galatians 6:1-3

Community requires different roles.

In order for a community to function, members of the community must do their part. The concept goes beyond thinking and acting as individuals to common beliefs about shared interests and life.

Romans 12:4-5

Community needs growth to survive.

Communities are rich in resources. Your strengths may be another’s weakness, and vice versatility. Communities give us a deeper sense of belonging.

Acts 2:44-47

Real community requires transparency.

Just Be Real!

• Transparency is the quality of being easily seen through. In community, it’s honesty and openness.

James 5:16

Hebrews 10:24

“People aren’t starved for information; they’re starved for meaning.”
– Carey Nieuwhof

God did not intend that we always struggle.
But neither did He intend that we pursue financial gain for selfish purposes.
He intends for us to have life with meaning!

Maybe you’ve heard the story from Matthew 19:16-22 about the rich young man. Jesus was trying to help the young man have meaning!

“If you change your thinking, you will change your actions.
And if you change your actions, you will change your outcomes.
And if you change your outcomes, you will change your life. It is that simple.”
– Michael Hyatt

Scarcity Thinkers (adapted from Michael Hyatt)

…live bound by the fear there will never be enough.
…are stingy with their knowledge, contacts and compassion.
…default to suspicion, so they often find it difficult to build relationships.
…resist challenges, fearing they decrease opportunities and weaken them.
…ask, “How can I get by with giving or doing less?”
…think small and avoid risk at all cost.
…feel entitled.
…are pessimistic about the future, believing they will always have tough times in life.
…live fearful.
Notice most are selfish!

Abundance Thinkers

God is all about abundance!
Psalm 23:5, 2 Corinthians 9:8, Deuteronomy 28:12, John 10:10, Luke 6:38, Matthew 13:12, Luke 9:17

…know there is always more where their last blessing came from!
Philippians 4:19, 1 Chronicles 29:11

…are happy to share knowledge, contacts, and compassion with others.
Galatians 6:7, 1 Corinthians 15:36, John 12:24-25

…have trust as their default, willingly building relationships.
Proverbs 27:17

…welcome challenges, believing they increase their opportunities and make them better and stronger.
Romans 5:3-4

…ask, “How can I give more?”
Acts 4:36-37

…dream big, accepting risk as necessary for all things worthwhile.
2 Timothy 1:7

“Dream a dream so big only God can fulfill it.”
– Tommy Barnett

…are grateful for their abundance.

According to scientific study, a life of gratitude produces increased happiness, better mood, higher satisfaction with life, less materialism, less chance of burnout, better physical health, better sleep and less fatigue, greater resiliency, patience, humility and wisdom!
source

…are optimistic about the future, believing the best is yet to come.
Acts 27:25

…live confident.
Ephesians 3:20-21, Romans 8:38-39, Numbers 23:19

Salvation, the first step to God’s Dream for Your Success!

If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. Romans 10:9-10

1. Just believe Jesus is exactly who He says He is, and
2. Tell someone that you do.

You can tell us by texting 205-476-2911. We have resources to help you with your first steps following Jesus to the life He has always dreamed you would have!

Kids learn from us.
Everything trickles down to them.

Which kids learn from me?
My own kids and grandkids, younger siblings and cousins, nieces and nephews, neighborhood kids, even the kids around here that I’m not related to.

As Christians, sometimes we remember to do what is right because we know someone is following us! A grave responsibility: Matthew 18:6

And no one has more impact than a parent! Deuteronomy 6:6-9, 11:19

1. 1.  Take advantage of every opportunity to teach
   2. Realize you are teaching all the time
   3. Be aware and careful to teach right things

What kids learn from us…

How to swear and gossip and be critical

Dishonesty
Isaac repeated Abraham’s lie of Sarah/Rebecca being his sister – Genesis 12:10-20, 26:6-10
When we lie to our kids they learn to not trust us – or anyone else.
When we lie in front of our kids they learn truth is situational, that it’s ok to lie when it helps you out of a bind.

Inconsistency, promise-breaking and excuses

Our attitude toward sin
Rachel repeated Sarah’s sin of giving handmaiden to her husband – Genesis 16:1-4, 30:3-4
Eli saw his sons’ sinning but did nothing more than talk to them about it, he was responsible and it led to their deaths – 1 Samuel 2:12-14, 22

They learn how to cope, keep their word, solve problems, keep a positive attitude, treat others, empathize, value others.

They learn humility, priorities, punctuality, courtesy, manners, to say “thank you” and “I’m sorry”, what type friends to have, what kind of spouse to pursue, to treat their future spouse with love and respect, to treat their parents with love respect.

They learn to cry, fight and stand up for what they believe in, to serve, that everyone has something awesome to do for Jesus!, giving, to worship and give God credit, how to pray, to listen to and be obedient to God, to trust God.

They learn whether Christianity is a matter of commitment or convenience.

If you are leading your children and teens to follow Jesus, church reinforces what you’re teaching!

And who knows if she is not pressing to her bosom, perhaps a Whitefield, who will thunder out the gospel through the length and breadth of the land?
Charles Spurgeon

Salvation, the first step – Romans 10:9-10

RESOURCES

“Dear Parents of Teenagers, Here are 5 reasons you should keep your teens involved in youth group…” (parents of small children should read this, too!)

7 Things Teens Need From Their Parents So They Won’t Abandon God

3 Dangers of a Kid-Centered Family

Four Questions That Transform Dinner into Discipleship

10 Bible Verses to Pray over Your Children

10 Manly Things Every Dad Should Teach His Son How To Do

OTHER SCRIPTURES

Proverbs 22:6, Ephesians 6:4, Psalms 78:4, Joel 1:3, Deuteronomy 6:6-9, 11:19, Titus 2:4-5, Matthew 18:2-6

Why this sermon?

1. Our culture is clueless on sex. We only get a small part of it.

2. Too often the only people talking about sex are the wrong people. Proverbs 29:18

To parents: if you aren’t talking about sex with your kids then your kids have no option but to believe what others tell them.

3. Because we humans resist hearing truth that goes against our grain.

4. Because we have reduced the true beauty of sexuality to a poor copy of its original design. We have made sex about a moment or a feeling.

5. Because this year at 29:11 we aren’t talking about what we can get by with. We are talking about the dream, what’s best, amazing and fulfilling!

So, what does the church say?

“Church of England Affirms Sex is Only for Heterosexual Marriage”

2 Corinthians 2:15-16

Truth is perceived differently by those who are being made free by the truth and those who reject the truth!

What does the Bible say? A whole lot!

Mark 10:6-9

A few more scriptures: 1 Corinthians 6:16, Hebrews 13:4, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7, Matthew 5:28, Ephesians 5:3, Job 31:1, James 1:14-15

What does secular study say?

“So, just having sex, in the absence of a thriving relationship, is unlikely to be very pleasurable, nor will it translate into increased marital satisfaction over time; actually, it could diminish it.”
“A sustaining, energized sexual relationship is a product of an integration of multiple facets. It grows over time from being in sync with each other’s values and outlook; your desires and fears about your journey together; your life goals, both individually and as a couple. Essentially, it’s a spiritual connection, a sense of being on the same wavelength. If that core grows, it will fuel a sustainable romantic connection…”
Douglas LaBier from Psychology Today noting a study on sex and relationships

Here’s what sex within a lifelong monogamous relationship will do:

• it will bond you closer
• it will create intimacy
• it will be physically, mentally and emotionally healthy
• it will feel safe
• it will produce longevity 

“But what we’ve found is that when, prior to their marriage, one or both spouses hold generalized beliefs that uncommitted sex is okay, that can contribute to the failure of a marriage.” Juliana French

This is about best!

“How to Get Free From Porn” by John Bevere

John Bevere’s message: “Killing Kryptonite: Destroy What Steals Your Strength”

Why have a wedding with a minister?

Legally, in the state of Alabama, you are married when you file the paperwork at the courthouse.

And in God’s eyes? God gives no formula for a ceremony but from the beginning the Bible teaches when a man leaves his parents to marry a wife, they then become one flesh. Jesus and the Apostle Paul both quote this text and Jesus adds that since God has joined them let no one undo it.
Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:5-6, Ephesians 5:31

Stating your vows before God in a religious ceremony is:
–  asking the church for its blessing, covering, confirmation and approval in solemnizing the marriage
–  and more importantly, it is inviting God to be central to your wedding, and your subsequent marriage

It’s all about the intent and desire of the couple
to make God and His plan, which includes the church,
a part of their life together from the beginning.

INGREDIENTS OF A DREAM MARRIAGE

Commitment, it’s more important than happiness, emotion and pleasure. Love is a verb. Love is a choice.

Investment, it’s longer-lasting than passion

Attitude, it’s more important than aptitude and skills

To those still unmarried: One day you’re going to meet that person you can’t live without. I pray it’s not a person that you can’t live with.

Effort, it’s sexier than looks

Sexual faithfulness, it’s more fulfilling than infidelity

Humility and forgiveness, they’re more satisfying than “I told you so”

Honesty and trust, they’re a stronger foundation than secrecy and privacy

Communication, it’s better protection than walls

Church involvement, it’s a stronger connection than joint hobbies and tastes

78% of couples who attend church together reported being “very happy” or “extremely happy” with their relationship

That number is even higher when couples are spiritually involved beyond just church attendance

Couples involved in a local church are less likely to divorce

But couples who are connected to a church in name only are more likely to divorce than the average married couple

Source

Benefits of church involvement include shared experiences, opportunities to serve together, sparking conversations, support, accountability, etc

A DREAM SPOUSE

What it means to be the head of the house:
Sacrificing, putting wife & kids first
Leading spiritually:
– Waking your family on Sunday morning for church
– Reading and discussing the Bible
– Calling your family to prayer, teaching them to pray

Boaz – Doing what is honorable, Ruth 3 & 4

Abigail – a Proverbs 31 woman, protecting her husband and her household, 1 Samuel 25:1-42, Proverbs 31:10-31

Elkanah – Aware, attentive, comforting, 1 Samuel 1:8

Jacob – Whatever it takes however long it takes, Genesis 29:15-30

Hosea – Endless, unconditional love, Hosea 3:1-5

Mary and Joseph – Perseverance, Luke 2:1-7

RESOURCES

Marriage Today website

11 Things Couples Who Build Successful Marriages Do Each and Every Day

10 Traits of a Real Man