CrossPoint Fellowship Messages

The reward of acting in faith in times of struggle is provision. God will give us what we need and nothing less.

• Nebuchadnezzar was attempting to prepare these men for positions of responsibility but their success came because they were being prepared by God.
• God doesn’t just give you what you need to survive, he gives you what you need to thrive. 
• In the face of certain death, Daniel sought like-minded believers and the intervention of God.

Despite being given a command by the King who had just captured and dragged them off from their home, they refused to stray from their convictions of what was right. It’s easy to change the way we do things in the midst of a struggle, but faith perseveres.

• You are who your actions say you are.
• It’s easy to seek God when our provision is pint-sized and far more difficult when our provision is plentiful.
• Faith and logic aren't always at odds. 
• Honoring God never results in having egg on your face. 

You’re a loser. It’s ok - we’re all losers next to God’s goodness. We all are in need of righteousness, given to us by God, and to be equipped by Him. Once we’ve been equipped, we’re ready to be used by him to accomplish his great purpose - to bring other losers like us into his family. 

• When we realize and accept that when we are left alone to our own devices, we are on the losing side of righteousness, then God can use us. 
• The preparation for your calling is on you - God will take care of it.
• God’s calling is for you to purposefully use your story to help influence how others write theirs. 
• Knowing God is all we need for success.
• Faith says I don’t need to know the exact outcome to know that God will make it a successful one. 
• Knowing God is accomplished by knowing his Scripture.

Elijah is one of the great prophets of the Bible and was, at one point, the only prophet of Israel. He accomplished some astounding supernatural things with God’s power… and yet could not overcome his depression. If you feel that way, you are not alone. But we have to find our identity in God’s declaration of who we are, not who we see ourselves as. 

• You can have immense faith, which leads you into the wilderness, and be willing to go wherever God calls you. You can give others hope in the face of certain destruction and perform miracles in God’s name. You can defend the faith against all outside forces who seek to destroy it… And still be touched by depression. 
• 4 factors present in depression: Fear, Failure, Fatigue, Futility
• You are not your feelings. You are who God says you are. 
• Isolation is desolation and desolation leads to destruction. 

Paul persecuted Christians for years. And then he met Jesus. For possibly the rest of his life, though, we had a personal struggle, what he called a “thorn in the flesh”. We too have our struggles like Paul, but we know that Jesus is there for the losers in the midst of their deepest valleys.

• Outside of Jesus, God has never called anyone to do anything who hadn’t experienced a giant L. 
• Understand that God will often use you not only in spite of your shortcomings, but because of them.
• It’s not about who you were on your journey before Christ stopped you in your tracks. It’s who you become after that point that matters. 
• Your past isn’t a weapon wielded against you. It has been turned into a gift to help you reach others who have the same struggles. 

This week we’re looking at the life of David. He had many failures but was still described as a man after God’s own heart. Why was this?

• We set ourselves up for failure when we value the opinion of others more than we value the opinion of God.
• God cares more about substance than style, and we should do the same. 
• God equips the called. He doesn’t necessarily call the equipped. 
• We are who God says we are.
• We are only defined by sin if we remain in sin and allow it to be our identity.
• David was afraid of losing God’s presence, while Saul was afraid of losing God’s favor.

We are all sinners. There is nothing special that we can do to earn salvation. We have to look at ourselves in a healthy way to have a right relationship with God.

• We need Jesus.
• We are losers.
• God loves us.
• To be Christ-like requires daily effort.

Jesus is the fulfillment of the blessing to all nations through the line of Abraham. But He also revolutionizes what the Family of God is, breaking down the belief that one must be of certain descendants to be chosen by God.

• All of humanity was intended to be the Family of God.
• Due to our sin, God required a new plan - God elected Abraham.
• The Family of God, through Abraham, was to outnumber the stars in the sky and be a blessing to all nations and families of Earth. Israel could not accomplish this. A messiah was needed.
• Christ is the redeemer.
• No longer is the Family of God restricted to just Israel.
• Through the blood of Christ, spilled at the cross, we are brought back into the Family of God. That means ALL people.

Election is not about Good vs. Evil. It’s about chosen vs. not chosen. God’s intention is always to bring all those who accept him in faith into the covenant relationship. But sibling rivalry always seems to get in the way. For every son or daughter chosen, there is one that isn’t. Yet, they all point towards the coming Jesus.

• The family of God is often divided between those who were chosen and those who were not chosen. 
• Just because you are non-elect does not mean you are outside of God's mercy.

God’s design for us is to thrive and find salvation through relationships, not independence. Throughout the Bible, he has used election to deliver his people through connection. Adam and Eve were first, then came Abraham, and finally Jesus.

• Election is not absent of faith or action.
• Throughout Scripture we see that salvation always comes through our connection with others.
• We follow God's will through faith and participation in a community rooted deeply in forgiveness and surrender.
• When things start to go wrong, it's typically because we have failed to trust in God and work outside the family.