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2010 Without Regret: Loving Others
(Matt. 22:34-40)

When we live our life following God’s priorities, seeking after Him, we find what’s best (not just what’s good). That leads to a year (& a life) without regret.

First, we looked at how we can make God-honoring choices. Last week, we talked about the importance of pursuing a relationship with God, who deserves first place in our lives.

Today, we look at how we treat God’s greatest creation: people.

1. What does it mean to love others the way you love yourself?
Words of Jesus: Mt. 7:12 Lev. 19:18
**It sums up ethical teachings of law.
**if we followed this law, commandments that cover human interaction wouldn’t be necessary (expand)

2. Description of this kind of love :1 Cor. 13:4-7, Rom. 5:8
it’s the kind of love God has for us (sacrificial)

3. Who is our neighbor? Lk. 10:25-37
Those who show mercy/need mercy are neighbors
Includes friends/other believers & enemies/unbelievers
John 13:34-35 Gal. 6:10 Mt. 5:43-48
Definition of neighbor: anyone we have contact with who needs God’s love & mercy
**doesn’t this describe everybody?

4. What does it look like when we love others this way?
it means we will be forgiving. Eph. 4:32
it means we will be thankful for others & what they do for us. Rom. 1:8, Eph. 1:16, 1 Thes. 1:2
we will pray for others. 1 Sam. 12:23
we will encourage others. Heb. 10:24-25
**we can cripple people with careless, hurtful words.
James 3:8
**church should be one place people can go to hear encouraging, loving truth
we will help people in need. Acts 2:44-45
we will help other believers grow to be more like Jesus
Col. 1:28-29 Gal. 4:19
**Our goal as a church: “Help as many people as possible become completely committed followers of Jesus Christ.”
**worship together, learn together, pray together, live together
we will tell others about Jesus
2 Cor. 5:14, 20-21
**We can’t honestly say we love our community if we don’t tell them Jesus died to pay for their sins
**No outreach=we love ourselves, but don’t care about people around us
**We’re called to share Good News of salvation with everyone

What does this mean to me?
If we want to love like this, we will need to:
1. depend on God every minute 1 John 4:10-11
**love we have for others reflects God’s love for us.
2. completely change our thoughts and attitudes. Loving others the way God tells us to means laying our selfishness aside to serve others.
3. be willing to pay the price. Loving/serving people is messy & costly. Are we willing to go beyond what’s safe & comfortable to love people the way Jesus loves ?

Challenge: will we devote ourselves to loving & serving others in a me-first world? Will we commit to using everything God gives us to show His love to everyone we come into contact with?

When we make that commitment, & act on it, we are on our way to living without regret.

We start at 6 p.m. Bring a casserole to share with everybody. Or, bring something that will go well with casseroles. Or, just bring yourself. We always have plenty of food!

Remember: 6 p.m., church fellowship hall. See you there!

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A Regret-Free 2010: Put God First!
Mark 12:28-30

All of us want to live without regrets in the new year. How can we do it? For the next few weeks, we’ll look at the fact that the priorities in our lives should reflect what’s really important.

This week, we’ll discover that when we love God with everything we have, He helps us live a life without regrets.

1. What loving God with everything you have doesn’t mean
doesn’t mean you are weird
doesn’t mean you spend all day reading Bible & praying
doesn’t mean you are useless
doesn’t mean you just think about doing good (Acts 10:38)

2. What it does mean to love God with everything you have
Heart: what you value, what is important to you. Only God can take first place—everything else is an idol
(Ex. 20:3-4, Is. 45:9)
**How do we tell what place God has? Calendar & Checkbook
Soul: your life. Would you follow God if it cost you everything—health, family, freedom, life?
Mind: your thinking. 2 quick truths:
**Loving God with all your mind means you concentrate on different things (Phil. 4:8, Rom. 12:2)
**Changed thinking is key to a changed life.
Strength: your energy and influence. How do we spend our time? our money? our God-given talents?

3. What does it look like to love God with everything we have?
Remember: this is about developing a relationship, not following rules (Difference: we have to follow rules, we want to build a relationship)
**might involve same actions—motivation & attitude differ
Fact: Christians have desire to please God (Rom. 7:21-23)
Fact: loving God is not one-time decision: it’s a lifelong journey (2 Cor. 3:18)
Developing a relationship with God is like developing a relationship with any person (same principles apply)
You’ve got to get to know Him (Bible study)
**The Bible is God’s letter to us. It tells us about Him, what He’s done for us, & who we are. (2 Tim. 3:16-17, Heb. 4:12)
**The best Bible-reading plan? The one you use!
You’ve got to talk to Him (prayer) (1 Thes. 5:17, Phil. 4:6)
** In the Bible & history, people who prayed most did most **You can pray anywhere, anytime
**Use reminders (2 lists: requests & answers)
You’ve got to spend time with people He loves (church)
(Heb. 10:24-25)
**We have responsibility to encourage, motivate & teach each other
You’ve got to be committed to what He thinks is important (time, talent & treasure) (2 Cor. 8:7)
**We show devotion to God by how we use what He gives us

What does this mean to me? (Acts 2:42-45, John 14:23)
1. This is how the early church lived—this is how you were meant to live! A year without regrets happens when God is our first priority. He commands it, for our good & His glory.

2. When we commit to loving God with everything we have, we begin to see the world the way He sees it. We’ll view our families, our friends, our work, our possessions differently.

3. We’ll never love God perfectly in this life. But He promises us peace, wisdom, & fellowship—and forgiveness for the times we fail Him. He wants to bless His children!

4. When God is first in our lives, everything else falls into place! You will be better in every aspect of your life.

Big questions
What’s first in your life? (Family, money, etc.) We all put things in God’s place. Will you commit to building your relationship with Him first, and letting Him transform your life?

Here’s the audio for the December 27 sermon. It’s the first in a series about living regret-free in 2010. I pray it will be a blessing to you. The sermon notes follow.

To download the sermon, click here.

Or, listen online by clicking on the “Play” arrow below.

A Regret-Free 2010, Part 1 (Josh. 24:14-15)

“We choose the kind of life we are going to have” Wise words from an 8 year old. It’s also a realization of biblical truth: our choices either bring us closer to God’s design for us, or push us farther away from what He created us to be.

What does the Bible say about choices? God has a lot to say about them. When we make God-honoring choices, we can have a year without regrets.

1. We make choices daily that affect us for a lifetime
Lk. 9:23 Ps. 61:8
big decisions, as well as “small,” everyday decisions
1 Cor. 10:31 “whatever you do”
every choice is important
Eph. 5:3-5 Eph. 4:32
–not all choices are good v. evil. Some are good v. best.
Phil 1:9-10
Choosing the best: become Great Commandment-focused

2. God cares about our actions, attitudes & motivations
1 Samuel 16:7 1 Cor. 10:31
We can do the wrong things for the wrong reasons
Ex.: Favoritism (James 2:1-8)
We can do the right things for the wrong reasons
Ex.: prayer (Lk. 18:9-14, James 4:2-3
How do we know what’s right?
1. God uses Bible & Holy Spirit to teach us what pleases God
John. 14:26 2 Tim. 3:16
2. Once again, think Great Commandment
Our choices need to be guided by Holy Spirit and Bible & focused on obeying the Great Commandment
3. Remember that the desire to make right choices comes from God Himself
Phil. 2:13
By nature, we want to please ourselves. God puts the desire to please Him into the hearts of His children.
What does that mean to us? We are not in this alone.
Jesus is proof that God is on our side. (Rom. 5:8)
He is Immanuel: God with us
God is active, at work in our lives
Rom. 8:29 Phil. 1:6 Lk. 7:11
God gives us wisdom, direction, & the Holy Spirit so that we can make choices that please Him.

Application: What does this mean to me?
1. A year of no regrets happens one day, one hour at a time. The choices we make show God’s work in us, or they don’t.
2. God passionately cares about the choices we make. He gives us everything we need to live without regrets.
3. God is on our side, working to remake us to be like Jesus. We can trust that He’ll lead us to make choices that please Him.

James 1:5//If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

Do you lack wisdom? Do you wonder what you should be doing in various life situations? God wants you to come to Him!

Will you:
Trust that His way is best, and ask Him to help you make decisions that please Him?

Download the sermon by clicking here.

Or, you can listen online by clicking the “Play” arrow below.

What Christmas Reveals to Us about God”

The Christmas story—Mary giving birth to a baby boy who was really God in human flesh—is a favorite of almost everyone. (Even people who don’t follow Jesus!) It reminds us that Jesus was a human being, just as we are. He came to earth to die for my sins, so I could live.

Christmas also tells us some wonderful things about God. Today, let’s look at what the birth of the Son of God shows us about our heavenly Father.

1. God’s timing is perfect (Gal. 4:4-5)
**1st: God is in control of history: God made sure that Jesus would be born at the right time & in the right place.
fulfilled prophecy
spread of the gospel (Rom. 15:19, 24)
God used the mighty Roman empire to accomplish His will.

**2nd: Jesus came at the right time—we were powerless to do anything to save ourselves. (Rom. 5:6-8, Is. 9:2)
Jesus is the ultimate proof of God’s love (Eph. 2:4-5)

2. God cares about outsiders/people the world has forgotten.
The first 2 groups He told about Jesus’ birth were not “important,” “respectable” folks.
Shepherds (Lk. 2:8-10) People thought shepherds were dishonest & untrustworthy.
Wise Men (Mt. 2:1-2) Magi (Wise Men) were priests in an eastern religion. They studied stars for news of important events.
Ministry of Jesus reveals His love for people that society rejected: women/disabled/poor/Gentiles
When God saves us, He changes us from outsiders into His family (Eph. 2:19, 1 Peter 2:10)

3. God uses small things to change the world
Mistake of the Wise Men: they expected the King of the Jews to be born in a palace.
God doesn’t work the way we do! (Micah 5:2, Luke 2:7)
God takes small things & makes them great. (Examples: Gideon, Abraham, Moses, 12 disciples, 120 in upper room at Pentecost)
In Bible, God used little things (in the world’s eyes) to accomplish great things. He still does! (1 Cor. 1:26-29)

Application: What does this mean for me?
1. You can trust God to handle your “stuff.” It makes no sense to keep trying to do things your way—God is able, and willing, to work in the hardest places of your life.

2. There’s nothing too small/insignificant for God to save & use. In fact, He specializes in using people/families/churches that others have given up on.

3. God made the birth of Jesus known—to shepherds and Wise Men. They came to Jesus to see what God was doing. God is still at work—His work in us begins when we come to Jesus.

Questions
1. Are there areas in your life where you are trying to fix things yourself? This is the time to give up control of your life & turn to Jesus. He is the King—the only One who can lead us.

2. Are you willing to trust God to use you for His work? Mary was. Joseph was. Are you?

3. Are we ready/willing to proclaim Jesus as loudly and clearly as the angels did that night?

I hope it’s a blessing to you. Download the sermon by clicking here. (The sermon notes are under the player.)

Or you can listen online by clicking the “Play” arrow below:

What we do—and why we do it (Eph. 2:7)

God doesn’t do anything accidentally! He has a purpose, a reason, for everything He does. As God’s people, we should live our lives with purpose. The things we do as a church should be done for a reason.

Today, we’re going to look again at three things: what we do as a church, why we do those things, and how we can do them in ways that please the God who loves us so much.

1. What we do
6 main activities of church: Evangelism—worship—teaching /discipleship—prayer—service—fellowship (Acts 2:40, 42-47)
**Following Jesus changed everything: what they valued, how they treated others, how they spent time & money
2 Cor. 3:18 Phil. 3:12

**Our goal as church: Help as many people as possible become mature, growing followers of Jesus Christ.
**completely committed Christians/fully-formed followers (it’s the goal of Jesus also)
Eph. 5:25-27

Everything in Acts 2 got them closer to that goal
**worship: remembering God’s greatness
**teaching/discipleship: learning to apply God’s word to life **prayer: acknowledging our dependence on God
**service: showing God’s love & care for mankind
**fellowship: encouraging, bearing each other’s burdens
**evangelism: sharing the good news of salvation

Everything we do needs to get people closer to the goal of being completely committed to Christ

2. Why we do it
The original intent of creation was to show how great God is
Ps. 19:1 Ps. 50:6 Ps. 89:5 Rom. 1:20

Church should do the same—show how great God is

How does God reveal Himself in His creation?
1. Clearly: we should make God’s message understandable to everyone (Eph. 3:8-9 Mt. 5:16)
**The 1 Cor. 14:24-25 principle: what goes on when we get together should be understandable to everyone there
2. With variety/creativity
**look at the variety in creation—God is a God of creativity
**we need to be creative as well & use different ways to reach & teach people
3. No wasted parts
**our bodies are made perfectly with nothing wasted
**The church has no unnecessary people—all have a purpose

Application thoughts
1. Creation happened through God’s power. So will anything we do for Him.
2. God doesn’t need us. It’s a privilege to be used by God in His work.
3. God sacrificed to save us—Christian life means sacrifice. But the reward of following Christ wherever He leads us is worth it.

Let’s commit ourselves to 3 things: 1. helping each other grow, 2. making sure that everyone understands God’s message, 3. relying on God’s wisdom to lead us where He wants us to be.

**We are here for a purpose: Let’s move forward together toward the goal that He has called us to.

What a great reminder of the reason we celebrate Christmas! Enjoy:

Download the sermon by clicking here.

Or, listen online by clicking on the “Play” arrow below:

Give Thanks In Everything (1 Thes. 5:16-18)

We live in a society that has forgotten how to be thankful. Too often, people are motivated by greed, and the desire to get ahead. We don’t take time to be thankful for the things we have.

For Christians, being thankful isn’t an option. God commands us to be thankful in all circumstances. Can we really be thankful when everything around you is going wrong?

We can! Today, I want us to think about the things every follower of Jesus can be thankful for—no matter what’s happening in our lives.

Warning: The dangers of NOT giving thanks
Rom. 1:21
**It can lead to all kinds of sin (see Rom. 1:21-31)
**We put our own reasoning, thoughts, desires ahead of God
Judges 17:6
**That kind of thinking leads us away from God

3 Reasons to be Thankful–No Matter What!
1. God is in complete control
Isaiah 40:1, 25-27
** nothing (family/health/job/church/etc.) in our lives is out of control…from God’s perspective!
** No child of God is out of His reach or beyond His help
Ps. 139:7-12

2. Our troubles are temporary. God & His gifts are not.
Is. 40:8 2 Cor. 4:17-18
** we need to look/pay attention to eternal things
**we live in “Right Now” society
Mt. 6:19-21
** only God’s gifts have eternal value & can’t be taken away
3. We’ve been given the greatest gift of all.
1 Peter 1:3-4
**God brought us out of sin & death, & gave us new life because of Jesus
Rom. 5:6-8 Eph. 2:4-5
** God adopts us into His family
Eph. 2:19 1 Peter 2:10
** Can’t be taken away.
Rom. 11:29

Application
Every follower of Jesus wants to know God’s will. Here it is: “give thanks in all circumstances”

**When we give thanks, we are acknowledging that God gives us everything we have.
**If you have a loving family, good health, solid job, stable finances, remember those are God’s gift. (And remember that not everyone has those things!)
**God is in complete control, even when we feel like life is spiraling out of control. You can trust Him to make something good out of the worst things we go through!
**We have an eternal reward that can never be taken from us—no matter what happens here on earth. Keep your focus on things that last!
**God’s great gift of salvation is ours forever. We didn’t do anything to earn it. God gave it to us & it can never be taken away.

This Thanksgiving, take time to give thanks to God for His blessings. Every good and perfect gift comes from God (James 1:17). Let’s remember how good He is to us!

Download the sermon by clicking here.

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Sermon Notes

A Day of Good News, Part 1 (2 Kings 7:9)

We as Christians have an incredible treasure. The question is, will we keep that treasure to ourselves? Or, will we share the good news of God’s salvation so our family, friends, and neighbors can share in what we already have?

God didn’t just save us so we can be happy & comfortable until we get to heaven. He saved us for a purpose. We’re going to look at who & what the church is, and how we can do the work God calls us to do.

Who is the church?
• People God has saved because of what Jesus did
Acts 2:39-40 John 1:12-13
• Christians are meant to live their lives together
• Church is not: buildings, programs, membership rolls
• Church is: all God’s people—New Testament calls them saints
Rom. 1:7 2 Cor. 1:1 Eph. 1:1 Phil. 1:1
• “Saints”: people called out by God
• Called from death to life, from blessing to curse, from isolation to fellowship
• We are called for reason: to do God’s will & glorify Him
2 Tim. 1:9 2 Peter 2:9

Everything we do & say as God’s people should reflect what God did by saving us. Our lives should be a blessing in everything we do, & draw others closer to Him.

]]> http://www.firstbaptistbellgardens.org/2009/11/16/who-is-the-church-november-15-2009-sermon/feed/ 0 http://www.firstbaptistbellgardens.org/2009/11/08/sermon-nov-8-2009-gods-gift-of-salvation/ http://www.firstbaptistbellgardens.org/2009/11/08/sermon-nov-8-2009-gods-gift-of-salvation/#comments Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:57:27 +0000 Richard http://www.firstbaptistbellgardens.org/?p=133 The audio on this is still a little rough, especially in the beginning. (We’re working on fixing it!) But if you can get past the first few minutes, I think you’ll be blessed. The sermon notes are below the player.

You can download the sermon by clicking here.

Or, listen online by clicking the “Play” arrow below:

Sermon Notes

“God’s Free Gift of Salvation” (2 Timothy 1:12)

In Acts 16, the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas, “What must I do to be saved?” That was an important question then, and it’s still an important question. People have many opinions about what they need to do to have a relationship with God.

If we are going to become a church that God uses to reach this community, we need to be clear about what the gospel really is. What does the Bible say about it?

1. This is a personal faith
• “I” is mentioned 6 times in this verse
• Your faith has to be your faith
**can’t use faith of your mom, grandmother, country, church
**no matter how great those people/institutions are
2 Tim. 1:5

2. 3 parts of saving faith
• We can fool ourselves easily, so we need to examine our own faith
Jer. 17:9 2 Cor.13:5
• 1st part: Knowledge
**knowledge is just the beginning
Heb. 11:6
• 2nd part: Belief
**Belief comes when you see the truth of the gospel
**The ability to understand gospel truth is a gift from God
John 3:3
• 3rd part: Conviction
** This is confidence/faith/trust/dependence that Christ alone saves
Phil. 3:8-9
3. Faith has one object: Jesus Christ
• We are saved through a person
John 14:6 Acts 4:12
• Saving faith doesn’t come from knowing facts about things
Phil. 3:5, 7-8
• Saving faith doesn’t come from a special experience

4. We can be confident in His ability to save & keep us
• Our assurance isn’t in what we can do—it’s in Jesus
John 6:39-40
• Jesus never loses anyone who comes to Him in faith
John 10:28-29

This is the gospel:
**We’ve all broken God’s law and deserve punishment
**Jesus is God’s son, sent to live perfectly obedient life
**He died to take the punishment for my sins
**He rose from the dead to show His power over sin & death
**Our job: turn away from sins & embrace forgiveness God offers
**God promises forgiveness, blessings & the Holy Spirit

Application
If you haven’t turned from your sins and trusted God to forgive you because of what Jesus did, today is the day!

If you are one of God’s children, who are you talking to about Jesus? They need to hear it as much as we did!