Our God is an Awesome God!

Here is a link to the song we sang at the end of yesterday's sermon!  Be inspired!

Our God is an Awesome God

Radical with sin - Deut 7:1-6

How do we tackle sin? Especially that sin which "so easily besets us". One key to dealing with that issue is to be radical, 100% for eradicating it from our lives.  Here are the notes to yesterday's Freedom Fellowship sermon about being radical with sin:  http://pastors-sermons.blogspot.com/2013/03/drive-out-sin-radically-deut-71-6.html

What is a Stronghold? - 2 Cor 10:4

What is a stronghold? Why is it that certain hangups seem to have a life of their own, they pull us down ever so strongly? While we can choose to not give in to them, there is a continual pull to do the wrong thing.  Follow this link to see the notes to this evening's sermon. http://pastors-sermons.blogspot.com/2013/03/what-is-stronghold-2-cor-104.html

Our theme song!

Here is a link to the Freedom  Fellowship theme song - "Who I Am to You!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSIVjjY8Ou8

Getting to know ourselves - 1 Thes 5:23

Getting to know ourselves!
February 10, 2013
1Th 5:23

Introduction

• Sometimes we read in the news about someone who went hiking in the mountains, but without adequate clothing
• Often they become a statistic, dying from hypothermia
• Having the right clothing for the weather can be a life or death matter
• Can you imagine going out in a rainstorm without your umbrella?
• Imagine walking out in the freezing cold, teeth chattering, wishing you had made sure you were protected from the weather
• There is nothing you can do about the weather, it is beyond your control
• But you can make sure you are protected from its effects
• Having adequate protection is totally important
• But just as I had to learn how to prepare myself for storms in the mountains, we also need to learn how to live under God's protective covering.
• This requires knowing who we are, what we are made of
• So today we will continue finding out about our basic make-up
• And next week we will start to discuss this protection

Spirit soul and body

• A few weeks ago we discussed the way that we have been made by God
• We saw that we have been made in God's image
• This means that we are like God in some respects
• We think, so does God
• We have emotions, so does God
• We have a form or shape, and so does God
• But God is spirit, and there is a part of us that is spirit
• 1Th 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• So we have a part of us that is spirit
• Spirit by its very nature is invisible to our five senses
• And yet we have it
• This human spirit is what enables us to connect to spiritual things
• I can relate to a person who is like I am
• I cannot relate to something which is not like me
• For example this wall
• So because we have this spiritual component, we are able to relate to God, who is spirit

Before we were saved

• Eph 2:1-3
• We used to be like everyone else
• We did not know about God nor did we care to know him
• Our human spirit was there, but it was dead
• It took Jesus to bring life to our spirit
• That life comes through the Holy Spirit
• 2Corinthians 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
• So now we are alive through the dwelling of the Holy Spirit

But what about the other parts to us

• 1Th 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• What about our body?
• We know what that is, it is our physical substance of which we consist
• It is what gets up every morning, and goes to sleep every evening
• So it is a part of living things
• But when our human spirit goes back to God who gave it, our body remains
• Our body is the temporary shell in which our spiritual life is played out
• 2 Cor 5:1-2 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
• This body is temporary

So what have we not yet spoken of?

• We are spirit soul and body
• What is left is our soul
• The soul must relate to those parts of our physical experience we have not yet discussed
• What would they be?
• Our mind, our ability to think
• Our emotions and our personality
• And our ability to evaluate and make choices
• This soul is the area in which we have our struggles
• Our spirit has been surrendered to Jesus, no problem there
• Our body may not be healthy as we would like, but this does not affect our eternity - it is temporary
• But it is in our thought life that the battle rages
• Paul speaks of this in Romans 7
• Rom 7:15-25 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

So where do we go from here?

• How do we win this battle?
• How can we be conquerors as Paul calls us in Rom 8:37
• Romans 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
• Come along next week when we will discuss how we can walk in the spirit, rather than being subject to our human nature
• It is when we put all these pieces together, that we will see the way to live under God's protective umbrella

Baptism - an expression of faith - Matt 28:19-20

Baptism - an expression of faith!

February 3, 2013

Matt 28:19-20 

Introduction

• This evening we will be baptizing a number of people
• But why do we baptize?
• Why is it important to take this step?
• Today I want to talk about different aspects of baptism, and then we will witness 7 people taking this step of obedience

A commandment

• The new testament church recognizes two ordinances given by Jesus
• These ordinances are each a commanded ceremony, which pictures the saving work of Jesus
• These ordinances were instituted by Jesus, taught by the apostles and practiced by the early church
• They are:
• The ordinance of communion
  • Commanded - Mat 26:26-29
  • Taught - 1 Cor 11:23-26
  • Practiced - Acts 2:42 (breaking of bread), 1 Cor 11:17-33

The ordinance of baptism

• Commanded - Matt 28:19-20
• Taught - Rom 6:3-4, Acts 19:1-5
• Practiced - Acts 2:41, 8:36-39

What is the meaning of baptism?

• Romans 6:3-4
• Just as Jesus died and was buried, carrying the sins of the world, when we go into the water it symbolizes us burying our old way of life, with all its sins, in a watery grave
• Just as Jesus was resurrected from the dead, our coming up out of the water represents our being raised to new life!
• The ceremony of baptism represents the salvation that happened inside us when we accepted Jesus

How should we be baptized?

• The new testament example of baptism is always by immersion, in other words by being dipped or submerged in water
• The greek word baptizo is used for this, around 80 times in the new testament. It means to immerse or submerge. No other greek word is ever used for baptism
• The greek word rantizo is used 4 times in the new testament (Heb 9:13, 19, 21, 10:22). It means to sprinkle and is never used for baptism
• Examples are:
  • Jesus baptism - Mat 3:13-17
  • Ethiopian eunuch - Acts 8:36-39

Why be baptized?

• To be obedient to Jesus commandment
• As a public testimony that we have repented of our sins, and are now followers of Jesus
• Sometimes we may feel the need to be rebaptized
  • if our original baptism was not understood at the time
  • if we were not baptized in the new testament manner
  • if we have walked away from the Lord and want to rededicate our lives to him

Prerequisite for membership in a local church

• Just as receiving the Holy Spirit adds believers in our Lord Jesus Christ to the Church which is His body (1 Cor 12:13), so water baptism is the means by which believers are publicly inducted into discipleship (Matthew 28:19-20) and added to the local church.
• The New Testament teaches the following order of events: people heard the message regarding Christ, responded in saving faith, were baptized and united with the local body of believers - Acts 2:41-41

Conclusion

• Baptism is is an outward expression of the change that happened in our heart when we repented of our sins, and asked Jesus to be our personal Lord and Savior
• It is a ceremony Jesus commanded
• It is a public testimony that we are followers of Jesus

Prayer

Awesome potluck with a movie!

We had an awesome potluck last night!  It was great to see our whole family come together and get to know each other a little (and the food was awesome too)!  We watched the movie/documentary "God of Wonders", an incredible answer to those who do not believe in a Creator God. Here is a link to the youtube version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAH8suospuc