Summer Reading Series : week 4

Guest Speaker : Judah Smith

Author of How's Your Soul?

3 John 1:2

"Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit."

Every churches motto should be : 

We're going to build you up, not beat you up.

You are only as well as your soul.

If the question "how's your soul?" gets asked, the response "beats me" is alright. Because Jeremiah said that the heart/soul (synonym) is deceitful.

Only God knows your soul.

Is all that is within you healthy? 

How much time and attention have you put into soul care?

Genesis 2:7

"Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man's nostrils, and the man became a living person."

Only the human being shares the breath of God.

We have the borrowed breath of God!

Praying Jesus is what makes you feel at home.

If you want to help your soul, be ware the environment you put it in.

Genesis 2:9

"The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground -- trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit."

The first description of the Garden of Eden : there were things to look at that were enjoyable and there were things to eat that were enjoyable.

Genesis 2:15

"The Lord God placed man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it."

-Tend to it and watch over it.

Your job is a blessing!

Genesis 2:16-17

"But the Lord warned him, "You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden -- except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die."

God stacks the odds in our favor.

You can eat from ANY tree, EXCEPT ONE.

All the permission, and all we think about is the one restriction.

There is choice in love.

It was good for Adam to have a no.

Genesis 2:18

"Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him."

Adam had a lot of animals to talk to, but he didn't have a best friend.

4 Essential Practicalities For Your Soul

1. Rest

Are you enjoying life? 

Matthew 11:29 "Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

Rest is first because God is first.

When we rest we recognize that He does not. 

To rest well is to trust well.

A restless soul believes you are the captain of your own ship.

A resting soul is a trusting soul.

2. Responsibility

Are you enjoying your job?

Embrace Monday. Quit living for the weekend.

Whatever you do, do it with all your might.

3. Restriction 

Do you have healthy boundaries?

The human soul is made for absolute freedom in absolute limits. 

There is a necessary no.

4. Relationships

Are you being intentional about your key relationships?

There are only a few people you share your soul with.

Intentional Living

Authenticity

Reach out and ask :

Have I told you recently how much I love you?

Have I told you recently how much you mean to me?

You're not living well unless you're loving well.

The most essential element to a flourishing soul is a right relationship with Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:21

"For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ."

Summer Reading Series : week 3

Guest Speaker : John Gray 

Author of : I Am Number 8

I Am Number 8

1 Samuel 16:11-13

We are reading about a coronation of sorts.

When Samuel talked not one word fell to the ground.

What happens when your gift is overlooked?

"God stops Samuel and says, "no I've rejected him."

Samuel was looking at looks and God is looking at hearts.

Even Samuel was wooed by the external.

God says no to all seven sons.

It's the invisible place that God prepares you.

God doesn't prepare you for the platform on the platform.

What do you do when the people closest to you can't see you?

Jesse thought so little of his youngest son that he didn't even invite him into the home at the possibility that he would be the anointed one.

It is in the lonely, broken, isolated moments that God seeds destiny.

David had no one to hang out with aside from he sheep.

So David would sing songs to God.

Anonymity : the condition of being anonymous.

David didn't apply to be king.

He was faithful in the field.

Some day will turn into one day.

We all want to do great things for God.

He's not hiding you, He's positioning you.

He found value in what everyone else discarded.

You won't even know it until it hits you.

God's not waiting for you to get clean.

I am a complete mess, but He loves me!

My shift isn't over, even though my life just shifted.

Kings don't think they need to be served, they know they are called to serve.

8 is the number of new beginnings.

7 was a complete no (7 brothers).

People don't like new until they need new.

Break a cycle to start a new cycle.

You can be anointed and not announced.

You can be chosen and challenged.

Never graduate from giving.

When God announced David, He had Solomon in mind.

Legacy.

Build up those who have lost their hope.

3 Things About A Number 8 :

1. Made for warfare

2. made for worship

3. Made to win

We are made to LOVE.

We are made to desire to be in the presence of God.

Always causes us to triumph.

Your worship is your warfare.

Whatever I am comes with me.

In the same way, when you worship, all of God shows up.

You may have been overlooked, but you are not forgotten by God.

Summer Reading Series : week 2

Guest Speakers : Jay + Katherine Wolf

Authors of Hope Heals

Jay's father asked them (I think during their vows at their wedding), "are you going to build your marriage on the Rock or the sand? Because storms will come. Prepare yourself."

"Levi Lusko likes to say, "train for the trial" and I love that, but I like to say, "prepare for the pain."" Katherine

"The most pure worship happens when everything is falling apart." Jay

Romans 8 

Job 5

God allows horrific situations to fully heal you.

Healing of the soul.

What is broken may be your heart.

We must expect less of our broken world and expect more of God.

One of their taglines, "Don't Wait To Celebrate!"

Celebrating God's presence, provision + protection!

"In the grief process they say there are 5 stages, but I found the 6th stage is serving.

Paul says, you've been given hope not to be comfortable, but to give it away. 

This idea is something we like to call "Hoping Forward." Jay

When you face trial, that is not the end of your story, it's the beginning of a new story.

Hope is not just wishful thinking, Hope is a person.

"This is my story, and I wear it well." Katherine

"and I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness--secret riches. I will do this so you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name." Isaiah 45:3 NLT

"Therefore; I, a personnel for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God." Ephesians 4:1 NLT

"But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a viceroy over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world." 1 John 4:4 NLT

"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according tot His purpose for them." Romans 8:28 NLT

"Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes." Ephesians 4:23 NLT

"Suffer well!

Encourage the encouragers!"

Katherine

"If suffering is like going through fire, I wanted to choose what this inescapable process purified in me and what it melted away." Jay

Summer Reading Series : week 1

Guest Speaker : Charlotte Gambill 

Author of "The Miracle In The Middle"

Luke 2:41-52

Jesus' parents lost Jesus.

If His parents lose Him, then it's safe to say we can lose Him too.

Following Jesus is not something you can take for granted, it's something you have to be deliberate about!

We can lose Jesus!

We get distracted, lose focus, drift, etc.

THE MIDDLE

We have a middle problem.

There are three stages we're constantly following through.

Beginning, middle, end.

Beginnings are exciting & have a momentum to them.

Endings have the joy of completion & an achievement & celebration.

The middle is the place we spend the most time.

We don't do well in the middle - "mid-life crisis."

God does His best miracles in the middle.

Mark 6:45

"Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and head across the lake to Bethsaida, while he sen the people home."

Jesus didn't suggest, He MADE His disciples get into the boat.

You've go to do work.

Row, row, row your boat...

The enemy isn't going to destroy your boat when you can easily get back to shore.

The enemy doesn't want you to push past the middle.

The enemy wants you stuck in the middle feeling hopeless.

Mark 6:48 "straining"

"He saw that they were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and waves. About three o'clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. He intended to go past them,"

It's in the middle that you'll find out what's in the middle of you!!

Jesus is basically saying, I said, "Go to Bethsaida and I'll meet you there. So why are you freaking out in the middle?! Remember what was spoken to you back on the shore."

He's about to pass them and His kindness and mercy overwhelms.

Mark 6:50b

"Don't be afraid," He said. "Take courage! I am here!"

Stop going back to where you last felt safe.

Have the courage to push forward to the new shore that awaits you there.

It's only those who are in the middle that get to see Jesus who walks on water!

In the middle, you discover aspects of Jesus that you'll never discover on the shore!

Do not be afraid of the middle.