Excel Still More

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Has anyone ever told you that evangelism is important? I would imagine you've heard it 100 times. We preachers talk about how God has called us to spread the Word in all circumstances. We talk about whole churches being active in teaching Jesus to others. And yet, many churches, and many individuals, just haven't gotten the hang of it.

Not that it is absent altogether. We each and all have our shining moments, and maybe can even name someone who is a Christian because God brought them into our lives. But what if that was not an exception? What if soul winning became your identity? What if the church where you worshipped was known all over the State for its evangelistic culture?

- What is evangelism and why aren't most of us better at it?

- What is a "church culture" and how important is knowing yours?

- What happens if we want to do a thing but haven't prepared to do that thing?

- How can whole churches position themselves to be better soul seekers?

- Have you checked out the totally free Gospel Message booklet?  Head to www.lindalechurchofchrist.com and click on "The Gospel Message" box.

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The word "fellowship" has always been a challenge for me. I was raised for a while to believe it meant one thing. And then, later, it seemed I was being told something opposite. Today, from the Scriptures, I see something beautiful. Fellowship is an invisible thing, a spiritual and eternal thing, that shows itself, proves itself, in real time with people of faith. I want to explore the incredible facets of koinonia, from the spiritual to the physical. 

We need this. After that pandemic, we need this. But also, because of the ideas that some have, ideas the lead us away from worship to our own spiritual experiences. I preached a sermon on this at the Lindale church, but here we cut straight to chase on Christian fellowship. 

- What does the word "fellowship" mean to you?

- Is fellowship spiritual, physical, or both?

- How does your church, and the Christians in your life, demonstrate fellowship?

- Why do our young people need to understand the mutual, shared aspect of faith?

- How will New Testament fellowship lead to explosive growth in the church today?

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Last year we got a crack in the windshield of our 2018 Honda Odyssey. We had months to fix it, but didn't. This Spring, that little crack became a massive one that ran all the way across the driver's sight line!  At that point, we had no choice. But we also had not options. It had to be replaced and the cost was HUGE. I sure wish we would have addressed that earlier, for FREE!

Lots of cracks, chips, little problems pop up in our lives. If they are on the passenger's side, we tend to forget about them. But they usually don't go away on their own. They grow under severe climate changes! And most of the time we wish we would have taken care of them much earlier, before they became such a big and costly deal.  Let's talk about that!

- Why are windshields free to repair and $1400 to replace?

- Why do we wait to fix them when the above answer is so clear and known?

- How do we sometimes make this same mistake in our personal lives?

- What is the power of Early + Often = Less

- How can we apply all of this to Faith, Friendship, Fitness and Finances?

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I want to introduce you to the most marvelous, life changing book!  I cannot recommend it enough. It is called the "Gospel of Luke."  Maybe you have read it before. But have you read it lately. And more importantly, have you read it in search of the heart of Christ? His compassion and love for people, and His charge for disciples to help and teach and give... unbelievable.

I'm afraid many churches haven't focused enough on the love of people found in the Gospels. Focusing on the church and the epistles and the patter of worship and collective work is all important - but only if it is built on the feelings Christ had for God and for people. 

- What did Christ feel for the lost?

- What did it mean to the Father for someone to be restored to Him?

- What did Christ want done for the poor and hurting?

- Has He positioned us to be His hands of service to the needy?

- Can we think less of ourselves and more about the joy God feels when people are helped?

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God has blessed most of us with children to influence and train. Maybe it is your sons and daughters, maybe you've gone on to the parenting heaven of grandkids. Maybe you influence other young family members, kids at church, or in your neighborhood. Do we understand that God is looking to us to share the message of Jesus with them? Like Abraham before us, God chooses us because He seeks growth even beyond our own lives. He is looking for people who will instill faith into the next generation, and teach the Word of God, and the Word that is Christ.

In this episode we will look at the importance of doing this. We will also see that you can start practically anywhere from Genesis to Revelation. And we are introducing a new sponsor to the program who has tools and packages to help. 

www.creationtorevelation.com

- What does God expect from us when He blesses us with children?

- What can we do to help the next generation know Jesus better?

- Do we understand that all of Scripture, beginning to end, is the Christ story?

- How can "Creation to Revelation" help us share that story with those we love?

- What will you do today to pass along the precious faith that saved your life?

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The disciples could not cast out the demon. Why not? Because their faith was too small. And Jesus told them how to get that faith right where it needed to be:  PRAYER and FASTING!  Do you use these tools from Christ to grow your faith?  For some of us, prayer is just a thing we do. And fasting... well... we don't do that, except to lose weight. 

But Christ has a two part plan to give you access to God's power.  Let's look at two acronyms today P.R.A.Y. and F.A.S.T. to get this week going right to God's thrown and get the needed power in our lives to cast out the demons in our lives.

- Why could the disciples not cast out the demon?

- Will you be any more successful with the demons in your life?

- What is the purpose of prayer and how do we make it work for us?

- What is the purpose of fasting and what does that look like in your life?

- How does Bible reading come into play to help it all work to new heights of faith?

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Today we wrap up our short series on marriage. We started by looking in the mirror. Then we built a triangle and laid out a plan to grow towards God. Then we strategized a plan to make sure we are always fighting on the same side and never against one another.  And we discussed the beautiful SECRET (my favorite) to get all of this back in place.

Today we look at two final ideas: the myth and the passage. One of them is something we want to debunk and avoid (it is truly awful). And the other is something we need to believe in and live for (best marriage passage ever). Let's set up a short series of qualities you an grab this week and implement into every relationship you value in your life!

- What myth has been taught about marriage and needs to be debunked?

- How much closer can you grow together if your strategy is spending time apart?

- What is the value of harmonizing and being sympathetic in marriage?

- Should I treat my spouse like a Christian, even if they are not?

- What is "the power of the first response" and why do I need to understand it?

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Welcome back to our three part series on marriage. We started a couple of weeks back with a lot of self evaluation.  It starts with looking in the mirror and asking, "is it me?" Then, we talked  about the life triangle, and how you must head closer to God. If both of you can do that, you will always find each other there, in the presence of God. 

Today, we start looking at teamwork. It is time to turn the pronouns towards "us" and "we." It begins by building a strategy, a game plan, a war approach, that IS NOT against one another! No matter what, and no matter who, it must always be the two of you against the world.

And then, let's discuss the SECRET. I love it so much and I hope that comes across in the episode. I won't reveal it here, but you used to know it well, but far too many have forgotten its power and how amazing it feels! Of the entire list, this is the funnest and bestest tip of them all!

- When the battles rages, where are you and where is your spouse?

- If you fight against someone with whom you are one, how will that work out?

- Do you remember how you and your mate fell in love?

- Can you recall the way you spent time together and why it mattered so much to you?

- ASSIGNMENT:  will you take the challenge from the last two minutes of this episode?

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Sommer and I had an amazing two nights in Florida last week!  We saw beaches on both coasts. But the highlight was speaking at the Florida College Spring Banquet. I had the honor of addressing 300+ college students. 

I spoke to them about envisioning a better version of themself. In today's episode I'll walk you through those suggestions and ask you to do the same.  "If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?" Stuff like that!

But knowing what you want to be become is not enough. Wanting to becoming a certain type of fruitful tree will not make it so. We must develop roots. The things happening under the ground must happen first, and then visible growth can flourish.

Let's talk about how that works and let me challenge you to do some things behind closed doors that aligns with your goals.

- What happened to our series on Marriage?

- Why is envisioning growth important to results?

- What is the value of seeing growth without a good root system?

- Why do we do the work in private before seeing public results?

- Bonus Q - What quality is to be in the root system and the first fruits produced?

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Marriage is awesome! At least, that's what God designed it to be. And for nearly all of us, when we first got married, we had awesome expectations. Whatever the state of your home, you can see things get even better by looking at SIX SIMPLE IDEAS.

Maybe you aren't yet married, or maybe you are no longer married. I assure you, these ideas are also for you. Maybe they can prepare to you get way ahead of the game. Or maybe you can share these with loved ones who need more hope in their home. 

This week we will look at the MIRROR and the TRIANGLE. Next week we turn to the Strategy and the Secret.  And, Lord willing, things will wrap up with the Myth and the Passage.

- Is a better marriage possible for every couple?

- Can we boil down all marriage teaching into six simple things?

- Why do I need to start with the mirror?

- What is my part of the triangle and how can I change the shape of things?

- Will you pray this week that God will help you think on and grow in these area?