faith continued

4. See with the eyes of faith.

Faith looks beyong our circumstances....faith says it is not final until God has the final say...Faith sees beyond the natural into the supernatural...

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen (God and his promises, His faithfulness…) We walk by faith not by sight.

A time will come when we will have to appropriate what God has promised to us...
by faith.

Peter sank, looking at his circumstances forgetting to hold on to His word...Come.


5. Confession of our faith is powerful.

Confession is faith’s way of expressing itself.
Confession is to say the same thing God says about a situation, circumstance, etc. It takes time to slow down, listen and to respond...when we are in trouble it is especially hard to calm the emotions to pause.

Worship, giving God honor by singing praise and worship to Him is our faith set to music.

Jonah looked from where he was...in the belly of a fish...and said...I will turn again to the temple and I will worship...we need to lift up our heads from the place where ever we are and worship, by faith.

Jonah 2:9 I will sacrifice with the voice of thanksgiving.

David said...
Ps 50:14-15
Offer unto God thanksgiving and pay your vows unto the Most High, and call upon Him in the day of trouble: I will deliver you and you shall glorify me.

When are we to praise God? In the good times and in the bad times especially when we are in the trama of trouble.

Paul and Silas worshipped while in chains...God delivered them...they looked beyond their trouble to acknowledge God as worthy to be praised.

The full exercise of faith means that we think faith,
speak faith, act faith.
FF Bosworth

fun

great weekend ...

pulled off a fun, uplifting single parent and grandparent raising children meal... 33 of the 36 who rsvp showed up... a three course meal, with a free oil change card, hollywood video bucket of popcorn, candy bars and a free video card... Doug shared the vision of helping and where we are headed with our care, and desire to meet practical needs.


FunFest was ok...disapointed in the community turn out but we also have a goal to strengthen 20 churches this year...the church we helped was very encouraged and the pastor had tears in his eyes at the end when he thanked us for coming...we had a bumper crop of vols...so we are moving forward...

380 backpacks have been picked up for filling...it took just 2 weekends to have people purchase the backpacks and begin to bring them back...we charge $5 just enough to cause people to remember they purchased the packs and they need to fill em up...

we use the funds to support making christmas dreams come true 2006...

I slept to 11 am today...think i'm needing a vacation...

dayton breakfast bars?

how to spin daytonians...offer free breakfast bars downtown at 8am...noticed a few things...1. can't stand on public property near the shuster center...duh? there are parking meters...2. moving across the street was a good move...3. people responded in typical early morning speak thanks, but no thanks, to wow thanks, to the vineyard, right?

one young lady said, wait a minute, I've been looking for you guys...where are you meeting...another lady returned and said, vineyard which vineyard?...others were more than grateful...all in all a good experiment which we will do again...a little earlier 7:30am...


steve

back to school

what a weekend...doug did a great job in his mid year review where we are going, how far we've come...the back pack outreach is under way...a great video clip of last years event with the teachers and kids from the trottwood school system...people are purchasing them in bundles...already they are beginning to come back filled full and ready to equip a needy kid...big fun...

this week in outreach...

wed 8am downtown shuster center breakfast bars to workers

wed 1pm give em the bag outreach at a resturant

fri...single parents grandparents raising kid special meal 7pm

sat... community funfest east dayton

sunday...water to airshow... and emerge outreach


next week i get to go on vacation....need the rest...

5 facets of faith

2. Faith acts.

I cannot believe God is and live as if He is not.
BJ Willhite

Dan 11:32 the people who know their God will display strength and take action.

Hebrews 11

Abram believed God, and God changed his name to Abraham.

Some action is required for faith to operate …

Jesus often asked people to act.
Go wash, go present, take up you bed, Go and sin no more.
He sent the 12 and the 72 out as they went and preached the good news, people were healed, delivered, set free and put faith in the Son of Man… Jesus rejoiced.

Naman obeyed and dipped 7 times and was healed

faith requires an action...


3. Faith grows in good ground

Faith feeds on the pledged Word of God
and flourishes in the atmosphere of His presence.
J O Sanders.

We need to get the seed into the past tense.

Jesus often changed the atmosphere removing unbelief so that faith could operate.

Sometimes we need to examine our heart…that’s the ground…the ambiance of our lives.

Do you want to see the ground of your heart? Listen to what you say…in a bad moment.

Developing an ambiance for our hearts we need to:
∑ take responsibility for our lives
∑ pray at every opportunity
∑ forgive others when offended
∑ ask for forgiveness frequently
∑ develop a consistency in reading God’s word



Mk 11:24…I say to you, all things for which you pray, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you.

A farmer has to get the seed into the past tense before a harvest can be realized.

Believing when we pray, that God has heard our prayer gets the seed into the ground of our hearts.

We keep the seed in the ground by being occupied and influenced with what we are looking for.

Jonah 2:4 I will look again toward thy holy temple.
Elijah prayed again.
Daniel kept on looking.

To look: is a continual present tense. Keep on asking, keep on knocking, keep on believing.

Numbers 21:8 It shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten when he looks upon it shall live.

My eyes are fixed upon you o Lord. I lift my eyes up…my help comes from you, maker of heaven.

It also means to consider… Sarah considered him faithful who had promised.

Jesus, thanking His father raised his eyes and said, I thank you that you have heard me. He then spoke the word of faith. Lazarus come forth.

I John 5:14 This is the confidence that we have in him that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us and if we know that He hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petition that we desire of Him.

Tip: Thank God.

grace

wen to crosspoint church to speak on grace...i was well received...they always seem to connect to what i have to say...basicallly

What is Grace: God's 'givingness'
• The foundation upon which God deals with us.
• Grace is the love of God expressed toward the totally undeserving.
• It is his help, his provision, his generosity, his 'givingness' to us.

Grace is central to God's -----nature.
1 Peter 5:10.
He is… the God of all grace

His throne is a throne of grace.
Hebrews 4:16
Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.'

Grace is the active love of God.

Believers are saved by grace… it is a gift of God

It costs us nothing…
because it cost Jesus everything.

Ephesians 2:8-9
It is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast.

Romans 3:24
We are justified freely by his grace.

We are saved by grace and we are sustained by grace

A saint is not someone who is good
But someone who experiences the goodness of God. Thomas Merton

Grace proclaims all is gift. Brennan Manning

Grace and The Law
Galatians 3:10
All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."'


Living by law is:

Doing everything by human effort


Living by rigid rules and regulations


Trying to earn God's approval

Living by grace is:

Relying on the power of the Holy Spirit, understanding you cannot save yourself

Trusting the Lord to direct your life as you develop a relationship with him

Rejoicing that you already have God's approval through Jesus



We are encouraged to be Gracefull people
Ephesians 5:1 'Be imitators of God, as dearly loved children.'


How can you become a grace-filled person?

1. Spend time with Jesus.
Worship...Read...Talk..Listen
John 1:14
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. NAS

Robert Robinson Come Thou Font

Come, Thou Fount of every Blessing
Tune my heart to sing your Grace
Streams of Mercy, never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I know

Prone to worship Lord I feel it
Prone to worship the God I serve.



2. Receive His Grace
How do you receive? How does your tank get filled? What do you do to recharge your spiritual batteries?

Romans 5:17
For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. NAS


3. Let grace lead you away from danger.
focus on grace not on the problem or issue you are attempting to fix in your life...look away...look to
Titus 2: 11
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age. NAS

4. Learn to have grace toward others
Usually it's our speech, that reflects an ungracefull attitude...
Col 4:6
Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.

5. Be generous.
Give your time, your money, your effort to bless others:

We bless, because we have been blessed

Titus 3:4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men. NAS


6. Humble yourself… Humility admits I need God...

Proverbs 3:34
'God resists the proud but gives his grace to the humble.'

You humble yourself by saying 'Thank you', having a heart of gratitude, by developing a willing spirit, by serving and by giving.



Acts 20:32
"And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

You

been waking up with this song in my head...often i wake up with a tune...sometimes tunes from the past...sometimes recent...never the less it encourages me to think that i can wake up with a new fresh thought that i think about during the day...


go to http://www.timhughesmusic.com to hear some of tim
Artist - Tim Hughes

Album - Living Loud

Lyrics - You


Tim Hughes, Rob Hill & Jon Mann Smith (c) 2004 Thankyou Music

Bigger than the air I breathe
Deeper than the ocean deep
Higher than the stars above You are

Brighter than the blazing sun
Louder than the screaming crowd
Stronger than the power of death You are

In the heavens on the earth
There is no one like you God
And these words are not enough
To tell of who You are

Who can know the mind of God?
Who can understand Your ways?
And these words are not enough
To tell of Your great name

Your love can melt the hardest heart
Your words can bring the dead to life
Nothing is impossible for You

Awesome God, Humble King
You terrify yet welcome in
Your glory echoes all around the world

You You You
There's always You You You
Unbreakable
Unshakable
Unbeatable

You You You
There's always You You You
Take the world
But give me You
Lord Jesus You

whoa, think faith

slowing down just a bit a couple of days off to redo the bathroom...
the outreach last few weeks went well...over 200 people served, cared and reached out to the people of dayton...

next few sunday's i'll continue the idea of having faith...

God does nothing except through believing prayer. John Wesley

Luke 18:8 When the Son of Man returns will he find faith on the earth.

He didn't ask will there be love, or will there be hope, he mentioned faith...is it possible people will become so jaded that having faith will a rarity?

Heb 11:6 and without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He is and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

Faith believes that He exsists and that He is a good God who rewards those who seek Him.

With faith, all things are possible. Jesus

Five Facets of Faith
1. Faith is now…
Heb 11:1 Now faith is… (faith is not future, hope is future, faith is activated in the now of life) the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. NAS

Faith enables the believing soul to treat the future as present
and the invisible as seen.
JO Sanders.

Faith by definition is: assurance, confidence to act. A strong conviction that moves a person to action. Faith is complete trust, dependence, sureness, and certainty. Faith is a reliance based on God’s word and acted upon, a confidence based on the nature and character of God.

Belief is to take at one’s word, to rest assured, to know.

Faith is based on our continuing and current relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Faith flows out of our relationship with Jesus as we discover God and embrace his promises.

Rom 5:1 Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

If our relationship with Jesus is current and growing we will have a tendency to live in harmony with others and our faith will grow.

Every man has been given a measure of faith. James

There are degrees of faith:
Jesus saw their faith...three friends had great faith, they tore the roof off to bring their friend to Jesus.

Your faith has made you whole...a blind man was healed by his persistent call to Jesus...a woman just touched the hem of His garment and was made whole

Disciples asked Lord 'increase our faith'after being told how many times should we forgive? '70X7' Jesus replied...the disciples response was 'O Lord increase our faith'...you'd think they'd ask 'increase our love'... the reality forgiveness is a faith issue.

Disciples were rebuked for their lack of faith... Jesus said 'o you of little faith'

He marveled at a towns unbelief

Others were commended for their great faith... Canaanite woman who's daughter needed emotional and spiritual healing…and the Centurion 'just say the word and my servant will be healed'

Faith can grow with use, or wither through neglect.


Having faith in a Good God is essential to a life of faith.

life in the fast lane

great weekend...
Fri evening we kicked off the new single parent grandparents raising children...over 20 volunteers showed up to serve...the parents received a 4 course meal, and a gift bag with various items...each received 2 tickets to a movie of their choice along with a child care reimbursement form...the kids ate happy meals, made crafts, watched finding nemo and received a cool hat...

Sat am we served the community through a gas buy down outreach...our team arrived to wash car windshields, full up the windshield fluid and to give every person $3 toward their gas bill...it was a fun helpful day...

Sunday we did a reverse free bottle of water outreach to the people leaving the dayton vineyard...everyone liked the label...

Mon...today we are heading downtown for the 3rd of july outreach...6000 bottles of water today for the thirsty daytonians...

Tue...our singles and teens are going to blitz Delco park for the the 4th of july outreach with glow necklaces and bottles of water...


lot's of opportunities to serve, care and reach out...