Monthly Archives: January 2021

“ We are in a Spiritual Warfare”

Sunday Sermon notes from January 24, 2021

Basis for this discussion on Spiritual Warfare is from an article written by Erin Boado called: “60+ Bible Verses About Spiritual Warfare” found here: https://lullabylark.com/2020/10/22/bible-verses-about-spiritual-warfare/

Disclaimer - Spiritual warfare is a very popular subject that can easily go beyond what we find in the bible.  We will be looking at what the bible actually says about spiritual warfare.

 Read Revelation 12:7-12

  • We are living in a spiritual battle that we cannot see and may not fully understand
  • It began when Lucifer challenged God and was hurled down to the earth.
  • While on earth his whole mission was to accuse and destroy humans
  • The humans that decide to follow Jesus will triumph and those that do not, will die
  • The real battle in Heaven was between Michael and angel and Lucifer, (Satan) another angel, not GOD. GOD is above all of this. 
  • On earth, the battle is between the “ woman and her descendants-humanity and Satan. 
  • Remember, Satan means accuser in Hebrew
  • We have the power to impact this spiritual war through prayer and obedience to God’s word
  • They won the spiritual battle through Jesus’s blood of salvation and by their spiritual testimony, telling others about God since we are increasing  God’s words on earth
  • Remember this entire book, written by John, is a prophetic message and full of symbolism throughout, so read with caution.

We have to know our enemies in order to win the war. There are four enemies in this war:

Enemy #1

  • The Devil/Satan/Lucifer/the Dragon/the accuser
  • Read 1 Peter 5:8- he is actively looking around to devour us
  • God didn’t leave us alone to battle him alone

Enemy #2

  • The Demons: they do the work of Satan
  • Very popular in our culture today.
  • They actively look around the earth to move into our hearts, especially when we are trying to keep our hearts in order: Read Matthew 12: 43-45

Enemy #3

  • The Evil World/Spiritual evil earthly force
  • Read Ephesians 6:12- There is a physical aspect to our enemies, the world is full of sinful concepts and forces trying to get us away from God. 
  • The World is dark, filled with the rulers and powers of a dark world
  • Our battle is against the unspiritual and unholy things of the world like materialism, money, social media, TV, radio, music, the government, etc. 

Enemy #4

  • Our sinful nature
  • Read Romans 7:14-25
  • Our sinful nature leads us away from God
  • We have to discipline ourselves to obey God
  • Peter reminds us to train ourselves by looking into God’s word to prevent our sinful nature from winning
  • Perhaps one of the strongest enemies that we face daily

We have Three Allies to help us win the Spiritual Battle

Ally #1

  • The Holy Spirit
  • Read 1 John 4:4- the Holy Spirit gives us power to fight the battle, it is stronger that the power in the evil world

Ally #2

  • The Body of Believers
  • Read Romans 12:1-5- we love each other as disciples, encourage and help each other through tough times
  • We need each other and should offer our bodies to serve God and do his will
  • We can hold each other accountable and help each other to overcome evil with good
  • Our American culture is very independent which is opposite to the culture of community in the bible

Ally #3

  • The Angels
  • These are messengers from God, doing God’s work to help us. 
  • They minister to us and the can carry out God’s judgement
  • We don’t know how they interact but we know they do 

We Fight with Spiritual Weapons

  • Colossians 3:15-16- prayer, hymns
  • 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 - The Holy Spirit lives in us and Satan has no power over us
  • 2 Kings 6: 15-17- We have a community of the Holy Spirit, Angels, believers to help us to overcome
  • God’s victory has already been secured
  • When we hold to Jesus’s teaching, we will overcome, 1 John 5:1-5 Jesus has already won!

For more verses on the biblical basis for Spiritual Warfare, please see Erin’s post in: https://lullabylark.com/2020/10/22/bible-verses-about-spiritual-warfare/

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Lessons from Peter, the Apostle

Sunday Sermon Notes from January 17, 2021

Read Luke 5: 1-11

  1. Have you ever had to slow someone down because they were talking too fast as they were trying to communicate with you?
  1. How was this event with Jesus and the others in the boat a time for Peter to slow down?
  • Peter had to stop and listen, he couldn’t continue to fish or he would have missed what Jesus was saying
  • He had no distractions on the boat in the deep water with Jesus,  so he could focus on what Jesus had to say
  • Jesus gave him specific instructions, he obeyed and was successful
  • Peter was fishing all night but had no results. When he slowed down enough to listen to Jesus, although he wasn’t all in, he obeyed Jesus and he was successful
  1. How did Peter’s view of Jesus change from the beginning of the story to the end?
  • Peter went from taking Jesus for granted, to seeing himself as undeserving
  • We can easily forget who God is, do we really trust who He is?
  • When Peter saw the miracle of fish, he really understood who he was dealing with
  1. Read Romans 10: 17- hearing God’s word increases our faith, Peter’s faith grew in hearing from Jesus.
  1. How easy is it to follow Jesus when things in your life are going well or not going well?
  • Read John 6:66-68
  • Peter began to understand that Jesus’s  words had eternal life and he did not want to be anywhere else although things would become difficult in his life
  • Read John 6:26
  • Jesus was trying to remind them to work for spiritual food not just physical food, but they walked away when things became difficult
  1. Read Matthew 16: 13-18, How is Peter unique in this situation?
  • Peter declared that Jesus was the Messiah
  • How did Peter get this understanding? From God and spending time with Jesus and his words
  • When we hear God’s words, and believe in God who sent Jesus, we will be saved, crossing over from death to Life: John 5:24
  • Jesus’s words are unique in their ability to give us a relationship with God.
  • You become attached to Christ because the Father calls you to Christ and shows you who He is.
  • The church is built by God in this way.
  1. How did God say He would build His church? Read Acts 2:39
  • Peter has authority in building God’s church
  • Who did they hear about? Jesus
  • Who were they responding to? The Father
  • Who did they want to see more of? Jesus (Acts 2:42)
  • We have been called by the Father into fellowship with the Son (1:Cor 1:9)
  • We have been called by Jesus to obedience and to be saved
  • Jesus sacrificed himself to allow us to have a relationship with Him

Sunday Sermon Notes from January 3

"So what are your reading that is helping you draw near to Christ?" (Jn 5:39)

Great question...but it gets annoying if you don't have a place to start...so here are some ideas:

1) Try turning off the music when you drive - instead memorize some of Jesus's words since they are not just commands, but pieces of Him.

2) Try "Sounding Out" the things that Jesus says until you think you know what tone He used. Now see what He feels like.

3) Pick one Old Testament passage that Jesus quotes and try to read it the way He is saying it. Try to see the picture He paints with it.

4) Try "Sounding Out" entire conversations that Jesus has by acting it out...like in a play. See where He is coming from.

5) Do number 4, but substitute your own words so that you understand Him better.

6) Look at all the times Jesus proclaimed his torture/death/resurrection and notice the reaction. Put yourself in both sides of the argument. Sound it out to see how it feels.

7) Study out what Jesus means when He says "life". How is it different than the way you define it? Wrestle until you see it His way.

8) Find places where Jesus changes the subject by asking a question. Try to memorize it and know the reason.

9) When reading the letters in the New Testament, look for references to the Old Testament that aren't in the footnotes. Go back to the OT passages and see if you can see evidence of Jesus teaching them this.

10) Whenever Jesus says "Therefore", back up a step and see what it is "there for". In other words, make a passage count by actually knowing the reason "why" instead of just the "what". Do the same with the Epistles.

11) Pick an Epistle and see if you can find evidence of Jesus teaching the person who wrote it. Like, were they born speaking that way? Did they always "know" this stuff or how were they taught?

12) Pay attention to the use of the OT in the Epistles. Are you able to use a passage from the OT in the same way it is used in the NT , for example, imitating the way Jesus used OT scriptures in the NT and reversing the process?

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Faithfulness

Sunday Sermon notes from January 10, 2021

How does God define faithfulness?

Read Numbers 12:1-15

  • God referred to Moses as Faithful, why?
  • Although Moses was a murderer and married to a woman outside the Israelite community, yet God called him faithful, why?
  • What was the difference between the prophet’s faithfulness and Moses’s faithfulness?

 Read Deuteronomy 18: 15 and Hebrews 3: 1-6

  • Who did Moses refer to as a future faithful prophet?
  • God promised to raise up a faithful prophet from among the Israelites: referring to  Jesus.

The word “Faithful” in Hebrew has three characters:

“Alif”- means head or Ox or strength

“Mem”- means water or power to give life

“Nun”- means fish or seed, sprouting of new li

In other words, “Faithful” literally means: God giving life that is new and sprouting. 

Fast forward 3500 years, Jesus comes to the scene:

Read John 6:26-40

  • What is Jesus really saying when he told them he was the bread of life?
  • Jesus is the “manna” that came down from Heaven. 
  • Remember the Israelites ate “manna” to survive in the desert and make it to the promised land?

The word “Manna” or bread in Hebrew has two characters:

“Mem”- power to give life

“Nun”- Sprouting new life

These characters are the same characters in the Hebrew word for Faithfulness.

When we consume Jesus= Bread of Life, we obtain eternal life.

Remember, Jesus told the woman at the well, he was the living water and will give eternal life?

Read Revelation 19:11

  • The word “Faithful” is used as a personal pronoun in one place in the bible: in reference to Jesus.
  • Jesus is the rider who is Faithful and True!
  • To be faithful is to give life- Jesus gives us life by saving us from our sins and leading us to Heaven. 
  • Moses was faithful because he saved the Israelites from Slavery and lead them out to the desert and they eventually made it to the promised land. 

Read Revelation 3:14

  • What is another name for Jesus in the bible? “Amen”
  • “Amen” in Hebrew is spelled with the same three characters as the word “Faithful”
  • Therefore, when we pray or say “Amen” we are saying - we agree with whatever was said to be true and faithful. We are agreeing to accept God’s word as nourishment.

Final Thoughts

  • We need to remember to work for food that lasts forever. 
  • When we take Communion, we remember Jesus is “Manna” from Heaven and gives us eternal life. He meets our daily physical needs with bread and our spiritual needs by giving us eternal life. 
  • Jesus died for us and with his own blood he purified us from our sins. Jesus’s purpose on earth was to be faithful and save us. 
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What Can We Learn From Jesus’s Birth?

Sunday Worship Notes 12/20/2020

Read Matthew 1:18- Matthew 2:12

From birth, Jesus had to hit the ground running

We are usually taught that Jesus’s birth and coming to the world was an amazing event, but often we overlook what was really going on, he was born in a barn and he was about to be murdered by a king. 

Verse 20: The angel encouraged Joseph to not be afraid. Joseph was responsible for his wife and baby Jesus-the son of God, imagine the pressure. 

Has there been a time when God revealed His plan for your life and you were afraid?

Herod the Great was a Governor of Galilee, King of the Jews in Judea but he was threatened by the birth of a baby- BABY JESUS, the real King!

Herod must have felt insecure and challenged. He was a wicked and suspicious man. He even had a secret service and planned to destroy Jesus by killing all the boys 2 years and younger in the region. 

Jesus’s presence forces us to make a real decision in our lives, we cannot remain neutral.

Matthew 2:13-23

The birth of Jesus is often portrayed as easy, no challenges or difficulties. But actually, Jesus was running from death. 

What is your response when you are trying to follow God’s plan and face challenges and difficulties?

Herod’s response was to try to remove Jesus from his life, with murder.

Do you remain steadfast and  trust God or do you run away and hide?

Do you get negative and pull away from God or do you push God and his people away from your life?

Do you question God’s motivation? Do you question God’s love for you or wonder if he cares for you?

What tempts you to remove Jesus from the throne of your life?

Do you stop seeing the good God is doing and just focus on the negative and hard things?

Herod was no match for even a baby! BABY JESUS could not be defeated by his evil plans.

God gives us warnings to bring hope and life to us.

What is God warning you to do?

Are you listening to God’s warnings?

Chapter 2:12 God warned the Magi to save their life.

Ch 2:13 God warned Joseph to go to Egypt

Ch 2;22 Joseph was warned again to go to Nazareth for safety

Do you see and hear God’s warnings in your life or do you ignore them?

God has a good plan for each of our lives. We need to keep fighting to hold onto God’s plan for our lives. God showed up to make sure Jesus would make it. In the same way, God shows up for us to make it the way he wants us to. 

Philippians 2:1-11

We need to remember to take care of each other

We need to remember to consider each other’s needs

In the end, everyone will worship Jesus

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