What do we mean by Faith?
What does it mean to live by faith?
Why should I believe in God?
I believe God exists . Isn’t that enough?
What does Sin mean?
How does a Holy God view sin?
Do we have a faith that rests on the power of God?
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Can we expect God to guide us?
Proverbs 16 V 9
In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.
How do we know if God has called us to a particular action or ministry?
Are we human or are we dancers?
What does it mean to be a disciple?
Some have been Christians for only a short time but Gods desire for relationship with us has been from the beginning.
Called to be in the church for each other.
Working together where we can
Encourage rather than judge
Consider others from a God perspective
To be Human
The world asks questions. Are we human or are we dancers?
The picture suggests dancers in a club all moving with the same rhythm & movement.
Who am I?
Can I break free & “dance” to a different beat and fulfil the full aspiration of what it is meant to be human?
Who am I?
What is God doing in my life?
What kind of follower am I?
Celebrate our humanity the way God intends
To be truly human. The example of Christ.
Phillipians . 2 God became human & lived among us.
RE words
Many words with RE prefix.
There are some that particular lend themselves to the Christian message
Replenish, Restore, Regenerate, Revive, Rebirth
What industry is God about?
Faith
Not just belief but Belief and trust.
Faith means I know God is in control 11 Cor 5
The Love of God(or God loves you)
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Even if you had been the only one. God love is forever & unchanging.
Unfailing,abounding,covenant love, enduring
we need to reciprocate this love
418 What’s that about??
Luke Chapter 4 Verse 18 Luke 4:18 NIV
JESUS SAID. 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,
Jesus came to preach & proclaim good news to the all but especially to the “poor in spirit”- those who recognised their spiritual poverty. Jesus sent his disciples to do the same & as his disciples of today we continue to preach & proclaim the good news message that God through the person of His Spirit, wants a daily relationship with us and to set us free from the things that drag us down in this life.
The disciples were sent to proclaim with power & authority, told to keep it simple and to a large extent they were the message, with respect to how they spoke, lived, acted & lived out the message of Jesus. When God comes into our lives and we welcome Him, he can change us and that life change is the example to others of what God can do in us.
The Person of the Holy Spirit
Notes taken from part of a Preach given in January 2008
HE BEARS THE MARKS OF A PERSON
Thought
Paul speaks of the mind of the Spirit in Romans 8 :27 he intercedes for us and teaches us how to pray.
- In Acts 15 :22 it seemed good to apostles and elders and in verse 28 it seemed good to the Holy Spirit
Speech
- Acts 8 :29 the Spirit said to Phillip Go up and join the chariot
- 1 Tim 4 :1 “the Spirit clearly says Paul writes to Timothy…
Action
- Acts 8 : 39 The spirit took Phillip away….
- Romans 8 :14 the sons of God are led by the Spirit
1 Cor 12 : 11 The Spirit apportions gifts to each one individually as he wills
Feeling
- Romans 15 : 30 Paul speaks of the love of the Spirit
- Ephesians 4 :30 possible to grieve the Spirit
- Acts 5 :3 – 5 to lie to the spirit
- 1 Thes 5 : 19 to quench the Spirit
Who is the Holy Spirit?
John the Baptist indicates that someone is coming who will engage in a personal spiritual way . We know now he means the Holy Spirit and one of the reasons Jesus Christ came is that we might have a deep , fully involved relationship with the third person of the Godhead.
Blessed are the “poor in Spirit”
Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
To be poor in spirit is to realize that nothing we have is worth more than the kingdom of God. This includes not only our material possessions, but our relationships, aspirations, reputations, careers, and more.
The poor were people who recognized their utter helplessness before what life had dealt them. They recognized that nothing within their power solved their weak state, thus they would eagerly reach out to others for assistance in rising out of their situation, as a beggar would.
David,(Old Testament) a person we would not consider as defenseless, says of himself in a situation where he felt only God could deliver him, “This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles” (Psalm 34:6).
God wants us to have this recognition of poverty regarding true spiritual things, and possess the drive to seek their enrichment from Him.