Preacher: Zak Graves

- Chapter 11 lists models of faith for us to follow:

a. Turning testimonies of God’s goodness into measures of merit will suck the life out of your faith.

KEY POINT: It’s not that these people did great things, it’s that their God did great things!

- Hebrews 4: Abel -- A model of Faith Fueled Worship

- Genesis 4: Cain and Abel

- Verses 4 & 5: Two Components of Faith Fueled Worship

b. Consists of the First and Best (v.4)

c. Consists of a Humble Heart (v.5)

- Verses 8-12: Opposite of Faith Fueled Worship:

a. Results in separation from God (v.16)

b. Results in separation from our identity (v.12)

- The Source of Faith Fueled Worship:

a. Jesus

- Faith fueled worship looks not to the worship itself, but to the God who deserves the best worship!

1. Gives present substance to future hope 

2. Acts upon perception of spiritual realities

Romans 1:20 -- For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. 

Ephesians 2:8 -- For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.

Preacher: Scott Hollingshead

Church membership is a(n)...

1. Natural extension of your faith

- Acts 2:41 

- Acts 1:15 

- Romans 16:1 

2. Humble submission to church leadership

- Hebrews 13:17 

3. Helpful protection for the church’s purity

a. From “practical” unbelievers -- 1 Corinthians 15:11-13, 

b. From false teachers and wolves (2 Peter 2:1; Acts 20:29)

c. For wayward Christians -- Matthew 18:15-17

4. Active participation in the body

- 1 Corinthians 12:18-19 

5. Unifying expression to the world

- John 13:35 

Preacher: Scott Hollingshead

Psalm 122:1 -- “I was glad when they said to me, “Let us to go the house of the LORD!” 

The meeting of the Unstoppable Church is…

1. A life-altering privilege (v.22)

2. A hope-sustaining priority (v.23)  

3. A love-stimulating preparation (vv.24-25)  

5 reasons why skipping church has become a habit:

- Consumerism

- Post-modernism

- Pragmatism

- Church baggage

- Church substitutes

Preacher: Scott Hollingshead

1. The sower (v.3-4,14)

2. The seed

The Gospel: The good news that the holy God of the universe has looked upon our helpless state as sinful men and women and in great love, sent His Son, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, to bear His wrath against sin on the Cross and to show His power over sin in the resurrection, so that everyone who turns from their sin and themselves and trusts in Jesus as Savior and Lord will be forgiven of sin and reconciled to God forever. 

3. The soils

- The path (v.4)

i. The Gospel meets a hard heart (v.15)

- The rocky soil (vv.5-6)

i. The Gospel meets a shallow heart (v.16-17)

- The thorny soil (v.7)

i. The Gospel meets a conflicted heart (vv.18-19)

- Fruit bearing soil (v.8)

i. This Gospel meets a receptive heart (v.20)

Preacher: Scott Hollingshead

Big Idea: The motor of the unstoppable church is powerful prayer. 

1. Pray frequently  

2. Pray dependently 

Romans 8:26 -- “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” 

3. Pray varyingly  

- 650 prayers in the Bible. Roughly 450 recorded answers to prayer. 

Posture of prayer: 

-sitting (2 Sam 7:18)

-standing (Mark 11:25)

-kneeling (Eph 3:14)

-face to ground (Mark 14:35)

-hands lifted up (1 Timothy 2:8). 

-loud cries (Heb 5:7)

-normal voice (Ps 5:3)

-silently (1 Sam 1:13) 

-long prayers (John 17)

-short prayers (Matt 14:30). 

Areas of focus: 

-God’s name be honored (Matt 6:9), that 

-God’s kingdom come (6:10)

-God’s will be done (6:10)

-God’s provision is supplied (6:11)

-God’s forgiveness is given (6:12)

-God’s deliverance is provided (6:13) 

Descriptions of prayer: 

-Thanksgiving (Ps 95:2-3)

-Imprecation (Ps 69)

-Confession (Ps 32:5-7)

-Adoration (Ps 29:2), 

-Faith (Ja 5:15)

-Corporate prayer (Acts 2:42)

-Supplication (Phil 4:6)

-Preparation (Acts 13:2-3)

-Dedication (Matt 26:39)

-Intercession (1 Tim 2:1) 

-In the Spirit (Eph 6:18). 

4. Pray alertly  

John Piper -- “prayer is not an intercom for increased convenience in our secluded cottages but a walkie-talkie connecting the general’s headquarters with the transportation line and the field hospital and the front-line artillery…When we try to turn prayer into a civilian intercom to increase our conveniences, it stops working and our faith begins to falter…the power of prayer was not given to the church to win comforts but to wield a weapon.” 

5. Pray seflessly

1 Samuel 12:23 -- “Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you.” 

Preacher: Scott Hollingshead

Big Idea: The mark of the unstoppable church is whole life worship. 

1. Motivated by mercies

2. Manifested by sacrifice  

3. Mobilized by transformation  

a. Do not be conformed to this world

b. Be transformed

Preacher: Scott Hollingshead

Big Idea: The message of the unstoppable church must be unapologetic Bible preaching

1. Preach the word (vv.1-2)

4 ways we speak instead of God:

- Relevance preaching

- Sugar coated preaching

- Springboard preaching

- Right idea, wrong passage preaching

How ought we to preach? 4 ways:

- Urgently

- Specifically

- Patiently

- Instructively

2. Know people won’t want to hear it (vv.3-4)   

4 ways people are tempted to ignore the Word:

- Allow feelings/emotions to drive your beliefs

- Rationalize away what you don’t like

- Elevate your opinions

- Take for granted what is familiar

3. Stay the course (v.5)

Preacher: Scott Hollingshead

Matthew 16:18 -- “...I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”    

Big Idea: The mission of the unstoppable church is to glorify God by making disciples.

Revelation 7:9-10 -- "After this I looked and behold a great multitude from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

1. The lost saved 

2. The Saved Matured

3. The Matured Multiplied

2 Timothy 2:2 -- "... and what you have heard in the presence of many witnesses and entrust it to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." 

4. To the Glory of God

Ephesians 3:21 -- "... to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

Preacher: Rich Sherman

1. Guard yourself from Idols -- 1 John 5:21

- Idolatry always starts in my heart (Ezekiel 14:1-8)

- An idol is anything that takes the place of God (Exodus 20:1-6)

- Greed is idolatry (Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5)

- What are some of my idols?

2. Love the True God -- 1 John 5:20

- It’s all about knowing Jesus Christ who is the true God, full deity, perfect humanity, the Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior, the righteous one, the Word of Life and the Eternal Life. 

- It’s all about living intimately with Christ as a true child of God by increasing in joy, growing in love, walking in the light, fellowshipping with God and others, abiding in Christ, conquering sin, doing righteousness, loving my brothers, knowing that I am God’s child, praying with confidence and living with Christ forever.

- Do you want God?

- Do you know God?

- Do you love God?

- Are you living intimately with Christ?