What Our Fairytales Are Made of:

Perfect Timing

Perfect Appearance

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Letting Go for Christmas

Week 1 – Identity Crisis

Key point: God doesn’t care about who you want to be or think you are. (your identity). God cares about who he knows you can be (and are) – in Christ.

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Key Point: When Jesus shows up, he calls us to embrace a new identity: In Christ.

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Greater than your failure

Text : Luke 22:31-34 TPT

““Peter, my dear friend, listen to what I’m about to tell you. Satan has obtained permission to come and sift you all like wheat and test your faith. But I have prayed for you, Peter, that you would stay faithful to me no matter what comes. Remember this: after you have turned back to me and have been restored, make it your life mission to strengthen the faith of your brothers.” “But Lord,” Peter replied, “I am ready to stand with you to the very end, even if it means prison or death!” Jesus looked at him and prophesied, “Before the rooster crows in the morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.””

Gratitude

Thanksgiving Message

1. What we focus on become bigger to us.

2. It’s hard to be grateful when you think you deserve something.

3. Look at the big picture

4. Keep record of God’s goodness in your life

Action Steps:

Every morning write one thing you are grateful for (no repeats).

Every evening write what went well that day.

Psalm 31:9-24

Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress;

my eyes grow weak with sorrow,

my soul and body with grief.

10My life is consumed by anguish

and my years by groaning;

my strength fails because of my affliction, b

and my bones grow weak.

11Because of all my enemies,

I am the utter contempt of my neighbors

and an object of dread to my closest friends—

those who see me on the street flee from me.

12I am forgotten as though I were dead;

I have become like broken pottery.

13For I hear many whispering,

“Terror on every side!”

They conspire against me

and plot to take my life.

14But I trust in you, Lord;

I say, “You are my God.”

15My times are in your hands;

deliver me from the hands of my enemies,

from those who pursue me.

16Let your face shine on your servant;

save me in your unfailing love.

17Let me not be put to shame, Lord,

for I have cried out to you;

but let the wicked be put to shame

and be silent in the realm of the dead.

18Let their lying lips be silenced,

for with pride and contempt

they speak arrogantly against the righteous.

19How abundant are the good things

that you have stored up for those who fear you,

that you bestow in the sight of all,

on those who take refuge in you.

20In the shelter of your presence you hide them

from all human intrigues;

you keep them safe in your dwelling

from accusing tongues.

21Praise be to the Lord,

for he showed me the wonders of his love

when I was in a city under siege.

22In my alarm I said,

“I am cut off from your sight!”

Yet you heard my cry for mercy

when I called to you for help.

23Love the Lord, all his faithful people!

The Lord preserves those who are true to him,

but the proud he pays back in full.

24Be strong and take heart,

all you who hope in the Lord.

2. You don’t need to fear the future because God is already there.

3. Think in terms of eternityap

Jeremiah 32:17  Ah,Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing to hard for you.

John 11:32 “Lord if you had only been here our brother would

be alive.” 33 Jesus is deeply moved and His spirit troubled. Then Jesus asked

where have you laid him? Then they said come and see. 35 Jesus wept.

Isaiah 53:3  He was

despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.

John 11:37 But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t

he have kept Lazarus from dying?”

John 11:40-44 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would

believe you would see the glory of God?” 41 Then they took away the stone from

the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said,

“Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 And I know that You always hear

Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may

believe that You sent Me.”

Vs 42 Jesus looks up to heaven and says “Father I thank you that you have

heard me and that you always hear me, but I said this so that others around me

may believe.”

43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud

voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and

foot with grave-clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to

them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

MANY TIMES WE OVERLOOK THE GREATER ONES LOVE AND LIFE WITHIN US BECAUSE WE ARE TO FOCUSED ON OUR SELF WILL OVER HIS POWER TO HEAL !- NLA

TAKE HOME: When pain brings us to the end of ourselves, we

then allow God to begin His work within us.

Jeremiah 32:17 Ah ,Lord God! Behold, You have made the

heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. There is

nothing too hard for you.

GOD IS GREATER THAN ALL YOUR PAIN!

Greater Than Governments

All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. 29Twelve months later, as he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built by the might of my power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”

31While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “It is decreed to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, that the kingdom has departed from you. 32You will be driven away from mankind to live with the beasts of the field, and you will feed on grass like an ox. And seven times will pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.”

33At that moment the sentence against Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from mankind. He ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.

Nebuchadnezzar Restored

34But at the end of those days I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity was restored to me. Then I praised the Most High, and I honored and glorified Him who lives forever:

“For His dominion is an everlasting dominion,

and His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

35All the peoples of the earth

are counted as nothing,

and He does as He pleases

with the army of heaven

and the peoples of the earth.

There is no one who can restrain His hand

or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’ ”

36At the same time my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne, and surpassing greatness was added to me. 37Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all His works are true and all His ways are just. And He is able to humble those who walk in pride.

Sovereignty: supreme power or authority.

Notes for Crossroads Church

Sunday October 25

Born to Lead – Leading your family / children

 Fathers, do not provoke or irritate or exasperate your children [with demands that are trivial or unreasonable or humiliating or abusive; nor by favoritism or indifference; treat them tenderly with lovingkindness], so they will not lose heart and become discouraged or unmotivated [with their spirits broken].

4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger [do not exasperate them to the point of resentment with demands that are trivial or unreasonable or humiliating or abusive; nor by showing favoritism or indifference to any of them], but bring them up [tenderly, with lovingkindness] in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Ephesians 6:4 Amplified

Older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children…

Titus 2:4

 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 

Deuteronomy 6:5-7 NLT

A rod and a reprimand impart wisdom,

but a child left undisciplined disgraces its mother.

Discipline your children, and they will give you peace;

Proverbs 29:15, 17

Whoever spares the rod hates their children,

but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.

Proverbs 13:24

Do not withhold discipline from a child;

Proverbs 23:13-14

Teach a child to choose the right path, and when he is older, he will remain upon it.

Proverbs 22:6

Five Times We Should NOT Spank our Children

1. When we are angry or embarrassed.

2. When our child is only acting like a child.

3. When we are in a public place,

4. When our child does not understand what he did wrong.

5. When they are too old to spank.

For more information see “Spare the Rod: Five Times You Should Not Spank Your Child” by Richard Malm – Available on Amazon.com

God only loans us our children. He expects us to give them back to Him.

The only treasure on earth we can take with us to heaven is our children.

Born to Lead

The wise woman ________________ her house.

- Proverbs 14:1

The solution to the first thing in the world that was not good was _____________.

Leadership often means being the first one to ________________________ .

Any leader worth following must first be a person who leads ____________________ well.

No __________________________ seems pleasant at the time, but painful.

Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace

- Hebrews 12:11

Choose

Long-term VALUES

Over

Immediate WANTS.

Nothing in life will affect the quality of your life,

your success in life and your direction in life

more than ______________________________________ .

He who walks with wise men will be _______________,

But the companion of fools will _____________ ______________.

Proverbs 13:20

Choose friends with shared _________________

not just shared ___________________________ .

Born to Lead

Week 2: The Power of Moral Authority

Key Point: If you are waiting for affirmation before you lead, you will never lead.

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him…

Philippians 1:27-29

The Keys to Long Term Influence:

1. Discipline

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Key Point: It’s the stuff nobody sees that brings the results everyone wants.

2. Consistency