…but by My Spirit XIII

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spirit

 

Sunday 09/11/16 

Series: …but by My Spirit Pt. 13

Message – Hunger for God ~ Memorial Stones I

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Hunger for God – Memorial stones…

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1Cor. 2:12, 

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit Who is from God, THAT WE MIGHT KNOW the things that have been freely given to us by God.”

Today we examining what the scriptures say about stirring up a HUNGER for Intimacy with God.

So far we have established these three truths, the Holy Spirit…

  • Gives LIFE
  • Reveals our ONENESS with the Father through Christ
  • Creates a hunger for that union!

Php. 2:12-16,

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God Who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”

Point #1

Our “willingness” to realize our intimacy with God requires that we Co-operate with and respect His Spirit.

FOR IT IS GOD Who is at work in you!!!

Point #2

Our cooperation with Him requires that we remember….

Last week we looked at some of the reasons WHY we respect the Holy Spirit as He is working in us which included….

Majestic alone beech tree on a hill slope with sunny beams at mo

White Dove Flying In The Sky

White Dove Flying In The Sky

White Dove Flying In The Sky

Memorial Stones…remembering

Joshua 4:1-9,

(1) And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying: (2) “Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, (3) and command them, saying, ‘Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight.’ ” (4) Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; (5) and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, (6) that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ (7) Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.” (8) And the children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the LORD had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. (9) Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day.”

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This is where we are going to spend some time!

Going to read some examples -> 1 Cor. 10:11-12,

(11) Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. (12) Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”

Q & A

Psalm 30:4,

“Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.”

Q. What effect was remembering & praising God going to have?

Prov. 29:22,

“An angry man stirs up strife, And a furious man abounds in transgression.”

Q. How does an angry man stir up strife?

1Cor. 11:23-26,

“(23) For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; (24) and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” (25) In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” (26) For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.”

Q. What does this remembering do?

Song of Solomon 2:5-7,

“(5) Sustain me with cakes of raisins, Refresh me with apples, For I am lovesick. (6) His left hand is under my head, And his right hand embraces me. (7) I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the does of the field, Do not stir up nor awaken love Until it pleases.”

Q. Why not stir up love…what would that cause?

Hosea 11:7-9,

“(7) My people are bent on backsliding from Me. Though they call to the Most High, None at all exalt Him. (8) “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I set you like Zeboiim? My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred. (9) I will not execute the fierceness of My anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, The Holy One in your midst; And I will not come with terror.”

Q. What was stirring God’s sympathy?

Luke 23:3-5,

“(3) Then Pilate asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” He answered him and said, It is as you say.” (4) So Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no fault in this Man.” (5) But they were the more fierce, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place.”

Q. How was Jesus stirring people up?

2Cor. 9:1-2,

“(1) Now concerning the ministering to the saints, it is unnecessary for me to write to you; (2) for I know your willingness, about which I boast of you to the Macedonians, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal has stirred up the majority.”

Q. The Corinthians had promised a pledge of money for the needs of the saints…what about this stirred up the other churches?

Q. What did it stir them up to do?

Heb 10:24-25,

“(24) And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, (25) not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Ok…this isn’t a question but an explanation…

Explain what this verse is telling us to do by “stirring up”.

In closing…let’s turn to Turn to Isa. 63:7-19,

(7) I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD And the praises of the LORD, According to all that the LORD has bestowed on us, And the great goodness toward the house of Israel, Which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies, According to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses. (8) For He said, “Surely they are My people, Children who will not lie.” So He became their Savior. (9) In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the Angel of His Presence saved them; In His love and in His pity He redeemed them; And He bore them and carried them All the days of old. (10) But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; So He turned Himself against them as an enemy, And He fought against them. (11) Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying: “Where is He who brought them up out of the sea With the shepherd of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit within them, (12) Who led them by the right hand of Moses, With His glorious arm, Dividing the water before them To make for Himself an everlasting name, (13) Who led them through the deep, As a horse in the wilderness, That they might not stumble?” (14) As a beast goes down into the valley, And the Spirit of the LORD causes him to rest, So You lead Your people, To make Yourself a glorious name. (15) Look down from heaven, And see from Your habitation, holy and glorious. Where are Your zeal and Your strength, The yearning of Your heart and Your mercies toward me? Are they restrained? (16) Doubtless You are our Father, Though Abraham was ignorant of us, And Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O LORD, are our Father; Our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name. (17) O LORD, why have You made us stray from Your ways, And hardened our heart from Your fear? Return for Your servants’ sake, The tribes of Your inheritance. (18) Your holy people have possessed it but a little while; Our adversaries have trodden down Your sanctuary. (19) We have become like those of old, over whom You never ruled, Those who were never called by Your name.” – This is Israel (or perhaps just Judah) saying, “We don’t want to…but we want to want to…!

Isa. 64:1-9,

“(1) Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence— (2) As fire burns brushwood, As fire causes water to boil— To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the nations may tremble at Your presence! (3) When You did awesome things for which we did not look, You came down, The mountains shook at Your presence. (4) For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him. (5) You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. You are indeed angry, for we have sinned— In these ways we continue; And we need to be saved. (6) But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away. (7) And there is no one who calls on Your name, Who stirs himself up to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us, And have consumed us because of our iniquities. (8) But now, O LORD, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand. (9) Do not be furious, O LORD, Nor remember iniquity forever; Indeed, please look—we all are Your people!”

They were to remember and stir themselves up to seek God as they asked God to NOT remember their sins ans stir up His anger.

Blessings! 

 

 

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Blessings!

 

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!