Avalon Church

Pastor John shares how the story of Jacob is a story of God transforming Jacob from a jealous deceiver to the man God had designed him to be. Jesus wants to do the same thing in your life.

Series: UNCERTAIN: Discovering Who We are Through Difficult Times,

Notes:

A Midweek Bible Study with the Staff of Avalon Church. In part 6 we look at James 1:22-27.

Series: The Book of James,

The perfect mom does not exist. But living a noble life of virtue and valor can happen as we move beyond comparison into the freedom and liberation that Jesus offers.

Today’s message is for moms,

It’s for all of us.

Some want to be a mom,

Some this year,

…are grieving the loss of their mom,

It’s in times of Uncertainty,

…We often discover who we are,

…And are open to God showing us

My hope is that today will be part of your journey

…to be exactly who YOU

There are many virtuous and capable women in all the world, but you surpass them all. --Proverbs 31:29 (NLT)

What a beautiful ode to a wife and mother.

May that be said of all of us!

chayil = valor

It literally means a person of valor.

It’s not Chy-Eel.

Chayil. (One syllable, CHayl)

Woman of valor = eshet chayil (E’shet CHayl)

The whole chapter of Proverbs 31,

She’s trustworthy.

She has her own business.

Then she stays up late

She cooks.

She makes clothes for her family,

She doesn’t worry.

Her husband is honored and successful.

this picture of the perfect woman,

One woman stated,

I never thought the hardest part of battling a global pandemic would be 4th grade math.

Another,

Quarantine - School Day #2: At what point can I request a transfer for my 2nd grader?

Quarantine School Day #3: I moved a table into the living room. Now the kids have a great workspace to sit… and throw fruit snacks at each other.

And the last,

Sure. Paint the dog’s toenails. Cut your brother’s hair. Whatever. #My House Is A Zoo

Which one sounds more like your life?

I’m sure these messages… all by men,

Unfortunately, they usually didn’t.

Being compared to perfection

For men, our bible heroes are wonderfully imperfect.

Moses sinned and wasn’t allowed into the Promised Land.

These were deeply flawed men,

We can all relate to that.

So, when we come to this list describing the perfect woman,

It’s hard,

…Because this is not how the Jews read it

…Each line beginning with the next letter

What’s interesting

There’s only one instruction in the entire poem.

…and it’s to men.

31 Honor her for all that her hands have done,

Why? Because she is an…

“Eshet Chayil” (E’shet CHayl)

…Not because of how she measures up.

A Midweek Bible Study with the Staff of Avalon Church. In part 4 we look at James 1:19-21.

Friendship God means that God is not just for us… he is with us. But what does “God with us” look like in our daily lives?

So, our series called “Uncertain.”

…Discovering Who We Are THROUGH Difficult Times.

You see,

…It’s IN the difficult times that we are moldable.

I hope these have been helpful messages.

It’s in him that we truly find abundant life

And we are going through it, right now,

Which is what we’re talking about today.

“I am a friend WITH God.”

…Not just a friend ‘OF’ God.”

We’re going to focus on a specific aspect of that friendship,

…That God is with us.

And to begin,

I want to share a story about a friend named Ronnie.

I was all in.

There was an 11th grader in the youth group.

We quickly became best friends.

2 years later, we went to PBAU together

We became known as the “Ronnie and Donnie Show!”

We were inseparable.

My relationship with Jesus,

All of it was shaped with Ronnie.

I got married in college and Ronnie was my best man.

He graduated from college a year before I did

It was toward the end of my final year in college

It was after midnight on March 3.

I have no idea how the word got out so late at night,

…Ronnie and my youth pastor were there

4 hours each way,

That’s true friendship,

A couple nights later, Ronnie brought 4 or 5 other friends over.

Then we started sharing stories.

It was such an incredible time of healing.

Half of that is true.

Jesus is our king.

Being a friend doesn’t minimize his glory,

…It shows his immeasurable love and

…grace, which he has freely given us. That he has lavished upon us. –Ephesians 1:6-8 (NIV)

That’s a word of adoration.

It’s a “friend-kind-of-word.”

…Let’s make today more like a devotional.

There are so many amazing Scriptures

Let’s listen to how God speaks to us through his Word.

Maybe you’ll want to grab a notebook

Because we’re going to be all over the place.

Before going to the cross,

12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. –John 15:12-14 (NIV)

Jesus gives us a command.

But then he explains, that the greatest way to love someone

But… But people lay their life down for kings.

And that week,

“You are my friends,”

A Midweek Bible Study with the Staff of Avalon Church. In part 3, we will look at James 1:13-19.

God is faithful and keeps his promises. Not in our time frame, but he always keeps his Promise. It’s who he is. It’s his character. And it’s God’s desire for ALL to know him and for ALL to experience life in him. We look at his promises and how we can depend on them.

Series: UNCERTAIN: Discovering Who We are Through Difficult Times,

In the 1940’s,

…his grandpa and grandma were two young teenagers

As a result, they got married way too young.

So they bought an old house in a low-income area of town,

She told her new husband,

The husband’s response is the chorus of the song.

eleventyseven – All the Doubt in Town

The story continues with the husband losing his job

The wife was scared.

They had a new baby, now.

And the husband with resolve said

All the doubt in town

Cause girl, I love you now,

Then the story jumps to the their 60th anniversary.

Mama is reflecting on how fast the years went by,

And he responds,

Girl I love you now

Though I leave you now

And then the chorus repeats

No matter how much doubt,

I made a promise to you

My daughter Ali and I

There’s something moving about

It’s inspiring.

And did you know that Scripture records

7,000 promises.

Some were very specific,

But God is a God who keeps his word.

Peter, one of the disciples,

…And God’s faithfulness to keep his promises,

He said to them,

9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 2 Peter 3:9 (NLT)

God is faithful.

Not in our time frame,

It’s who he is.

And it’s God’s desire

…For ALL to know him.

That we’re part of this epic journey with God;

God is moving the story forward.

With us or in spite of us.

But his deepest desire,

Is to share the story with us.

The story is huge.

So God, throughout history, has given us these promises

…Kind of like

The promises, they assure us

It is good.

The promises arouse faith.

Those that have been fulfilled

A midweek Bible study where the pastors and staff lead an interactive study in the book of James. Other members joined by watching and commenting on Facebook and YouTube Live. Part 2 is a look at James 1:5-12.

Series: ,

In 1 Chronicles 21, we learn that Just like King David, In an uncertain world you can be certain that you are part the grand, epic story of God.

Each week, we will observe communion together

Make sure you grab some bread and juice.

Several weeks ago we began this series called Uncertain.

We all feel displaced.

We have no idea when it will end,

But as followers of Jesus,

…In Christ, we have certainty.

Last week was Easter.

We talked about the certainty of Jesus’ resurrection,

Transformed lives is what this series is about.

…Discovering who we are as followers of Christ.

…Our identity in him.

Pretty relevant!

It was during the time of David,

David was comfortable in his role as king.

And his passion was towards success.

He was the king.

God had become routine.

And then came the plague.

He was watching his people suffer,

…It was a wake-up call.

That beautiful moment when you realize

That there is something bigger going on here.

And rather than fighting for control,

He turned back to God.

He repented of his self-centeredness.

This is what made David so great.

It’s not that he was pure.

He was a hot mess,

But when confronted with his sin… his brokenness,

So in the midst of this plague,

He told David,

18 …“Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite–1 Chron. 21:18 (NLT)

Go to this specific piece of property in Jerusalem.

Seems a little weird.

So King David shows up at the property unannounced,

…And Araunah (AH’ Rauna), the owner,

He bows.

And the King says,

Let me buy this threshing floor from you at its full price. Then I will build an altar to the Lord there, so that he will stop the plague.” – 1 Chron 21:22 (NLT)

Araunah is just grateful that’s all David wants.

Take it, my lord the king, and use it as you wish,” Araunah said to David. “I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, and the threshing boards for wood to build a fire on the altar, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give it all to you.” –1 Chron 21:23 (NLT)

Take it. All of it.

I’ll give you everything you need for the sacrifice.

24 But King David replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it for the full price. I will not take what is yours and give it to the Lord. I will not present burnt offerings that have cost me nothing!” –1 Chron 21:24 (NLT)

My life is the Lord’s.

I will not force you to obey what God has told me to do.

There’s a powerful message in here,

Because, I don’t know if David realized

But the writer of 1 Chronicles did.

We catch a glimpse of that story a few verses later.

1 Then David said, “This will be the location for the Temple of the Lord God and the place of the altar for Israel’s burnt offerings!” – 1 Chron 22:1 (NLT)

Think about it.

And as a result,

…David is convinced this is where the Temple should be built.