Eagle Ridge Church of God Sermons

Route 66: Summer Road Trip

Week 9: When Being Scattered is Good

Acts 9:1-5

It didn’t feel like being sent it felt like being cast to the wind!

Acts 8:6-8

… listened intently… were eager to hear his message and see the miraculous signs… there was great joy in that city.

Acts 8:9-13 NLT

• “Jesus-like” results come for those who are adaptable

Acts 8:25-27; 8:38-40 NLT

• More unlikely wins will follow

(The Bible Project Video https://bibleproject.com/videos/gospel-acts-2/)

• A track record of trusting submission produces a movement of God.

Take your place in the movement

1.     What is God saying to you?

2.    What do you need to do to align your life to this?

3.    Whose help do you need?      

Route 66: Summer Road Trip

Week 8: Reality Check: You might be blind and not know it!

Acts 9:1-6 NLT

God given reality check:

Acts 9:7-9 NLT

• Am I blind to something You are doing, God?

• What did it take to help me see?

• What will it take to help me see?

• Have I ignored God’s extreme measures in the past?

Acts 9:11-19 NLT

Only those who accept that they have been blind will see life clearly.

Matthew 26:38-39 NLT

Luke 9:23-25 NLT

Then He told them what they could expect for themselves: “Anyone who intends to come with Me has to let Me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat—I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow Me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, My way, to finding yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? Luke 9:23-25 The Message

Acts 9:6 NLT

All of this is so you can bless those God loves.

Acts 9:15 ; Acts 9:20-21 NLT

Stepping from Blindness to Sight:

1. Go back to a time of blindness and suffering you have ignored.

2. Pray this prayer daily…

Father, show me where I am blind. Use whatever means possible so that I can have clear accurate vision for what you are doing around me. I will not run from the suffering that you can use to teach me. I submit to what you want not what I want. Help me to see that this is not about me being able to see you clearly for my own benefit but rather it is for those you love who are separated from you and are suffering because of it.

3. Recite Luke 9:23-25 daily out loud.

Then He said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow Me. 24 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for My sake, you will save it. 25 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? Luke 9:23-25 NLT

Route 66: Summer Road Trips

Week 7: The Magi

Matthew 2:1-3 NIV 

Our trips usually fall into one of two categories: Business or Personal

The Magi would have said this trip falls under a 3rd category: Worship

Like the Magi, we probably would have expected it to end in Jerusalem, but God often uses the little or unexpected to accomplish His plans.                                                                                              

Who were the Magi, that are often referred to as the Wisemen?

How did they know about the promised Jewish Messiah?

Daniel 2:48 NIV

Matthew 2:4-8 NIV

“The Magi were seeking the King; Herod was opposing the King; and the Jewish priests were ignoring the King.”  -Warren Wiersbe   

Matthew 2:9-12 NIV                                                                                                  

They Worshipped:

They gave their presence.                                                                           

They bowed down.                                                                               

They brought gifts.

The Wisemen are wise because…

• they know whom they are looking for, Jesus the King of Kings.

Jeremiah 29:13 NLT

• they don’t give up!  Whether the journey takes months or years,whether the Star is bright or temporally hidden.  They persevere with a faith driven by a God-given passion for Jesus Christ – they don’t stop at Jerusalem…they keep going to Bethlehem.

 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV

• when they encounter Jesus, they worship Him. Not for anything He might do for them, but solely for the honor and glory they might render to God, Who came to earth to save us and now rules and reigns in Heaven and whose Spirit indwells us. 

Psalm 145:3; 95:6 NIV

Step of Obedience-

A Magi Quiz:

1.    How are you daily seeking Jesus?

2.    What is one thing that’s making it hard to connect with Him that you can remove this week?

3.    How long has it been since you spent some time really worshipping Jesus?

Route 66: Summer Road Trip

Week 6: Bring a Friend!

Meanwhile, the believers who had been scattered during the persecution after Stephen’s death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria. They preached the word of God, but only to Jews. However, some of the believerswho went to Antioch from Cyprus and Cyrene began preaching to the Gentilesabout the Lord Jesus. The power of the Lord was with them, and a large number of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord.

Acts 11:19-21 NLT

When the church at Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to Antioch.  When he arrived and saw this evidence of God’s blessing, he was filled with joy, and he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord. Barnabaswas a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And many people were brought to the Lord. Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul. When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching large crowds of people. (It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.)

Acts 11:22-26 NLT

REIGNITED

Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. Acts 9:15 NLT

Travel Checklist:

1.      Watch and Join

2.      Bring a friend!

3.      Take what you’ve learned and apply it.

a.      Speak more publicly about our faith

b.      Find new ways to explain our faith

c.      Reach new groups of people

7/5/26 Sermon Audio

Route 66: Summer Road Trip

Week 4: Absolutely, Talk to Strangers!

Luke 24:13-35 NLT

The people who should recognize Jesus often don’t!

 Luke 24:21 NLT 

Do you recognize Jesus’ voice and actions today? 

 Luke 24:25-27 NLT

•    He spoke truth about Himself through scripture.

How did Jesus speak to you through scripture while you were on this trip?

Luke 24:30-31 NLT 

• The Spirit reveals Truth, His identity.

How did Jesus reveal himself to you?

They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as He talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” 

• Their hearts burned because He is alive and they met Him!

What made your heart burn because you knew Jesus was there?

 Jeremiah 20:9 ; Luke 24:33-35 NLT

• This burning heart demands that we go!

Why did you decide to go? 

Stoke the Fire and Feel the Burn:

1.      Read these stories to meet Jesus.

2.     Recognize and document when you see Jesus this summer.

Route 66 Summer Road Trip

Week 3: The Journey Back from Exile

Ezra 1:1-3 NLT

Exile:

• Forced removal from one’s home or country.
• The condition or period of self-imposed absence from one’s country or home.

Jeremiah 25:11 & 29:10 NLT

Ezra 1:1-5 , 7:6-7 NLT; 7:25 NLT

Nehemiah 2:1-6 NLT

Returning from exile includes:

o Returning to worship.

o Returning to the Word.

o Returning to community.

If you are not currently in exile… How can you guide others on their journey back?

How to Come Back from Exile

o Return to worship.

o Return to the Word.

o Return to community.

Luke 15:22-24 NLT

This week, I will reach out to ______________ with a kind word of encouragement and support.

Route 66 Summer Road Trip

Week 2: Naaman: On the Road to Humility

For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke 14:11 NLT

You can choose “to be humbled” or choose “to humble yourself”.

Jesus repeatedly told us and showed us why and how to demonstrate humility.

John 13:14-15 NLT; 2 Kings 5:2-3 NLT

She demonstrated humility through her character.

2 Kings 5:1 NLT

He learns humility through faith and obedience.

2 Kings 5:4-6, 7, 8 NLT

He illustrates humility through his actions of self-depreciation.

2 Kings 5:9-10, 11-12 NLT

…“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5 NLT

2 Kings 5:13-14, 15-16 NLT

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up in honor.

James 4:10 NLT

Philippians 4:3-8 NLT

Steps of Obedience:

1.    Who has been an example of humility to you through their Godlycharacter and self-depreciation; thinking of others before themselves andgiving God the glory?  

• Contact them this week and let them know their humble spirit hasencouraged or inspired you.

2.    The James 4:10 Key for opening your Humility Door 

• A reminder to humble yourself before God. And ask Him, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to help you practice an attitude of humility especially in the ________________ area of your life.

Route 66 Summer Road Trips

Week 1: A Step of Faith

"Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you." Acts 7:3 NLT

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him. Genesis 12:1-7 NLT

Travel Checklist:

1. Know that God is with you.
2. Take the first step of faith!
3. Document/Journal the "Crazy".

Jesus is Superior, Period.

Week 8: Where Commitment is Visible

Hebrews 13:1-6 ESV

Our commitment to Jesus as superior, period becomes visible in the day-to-day.

Verses one through 6 demonstrate that true Christian commitment involves living out commitment to Christ in the nitty gritty of daily living beds and bankrolls cannot be separated from theology. This is where the reality of our relationship with God is manifested. The dusty and crowded sidewalks, the kitchen tables, the lunchrooms and lounges, are the places where we must “confess his name” and “do good and…share with others” (13:15-16) if we are to live authentically as believers. We must work out these principles in daily practice. George H. Guthrie, The NIV Application Commentary, Hebrews, pg. 446

The everyday is where we die to a self-focused, self-directed way of living.

Luke 9:23-24

Our commitment to Jesus as superior, period becomes visible in the everyday when…We care for people who need care.

Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

Our commitment to Jesus as superior, period becomes visible when…We express our sexuality as God designed.

“The moral Guidelines found in Hebrews 1-3 are grounded not in a person's existential sense of morality but in a covenant relationship with Jesus Christ, who is quotation marks the same yesterday and today and forever.” George H. Guthrie, The NIV Application Commentary, Hebrews, pg. 445

Our commitment to Jesus as superior, period becomes visible when…We put our trust in God not money.

Hebrews 13:20-21

Steps of Obedience:

1. Confess isolating Jesus from the way you live.
2. Take the step God is calling you to make that brings your commitment into your daily life?