Faith

From “In the Beginning” to Amen // Called and Commissioned

2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (NLT)

“And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So, we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’”

Ambassadors Carry the Authority of the One Who Sent Them

Ambassadors Carry the Presence and Character of Their King

Ambassadors Carry the Power of Heaven’s Message

Ambassadors Are Also Intercessors

An Ambassador with No Burden for People Has Forgotten the Heart of The King

From “In the Beginning” to Amen – Honest to God

Honest to God

God Invites Honesty, Not Performance

The Psalms Model a Full Emotional Life Lived in God’s Presence, But Willing to Learn and Be Shaped

Psalm 73:21-28 (NIV)

“When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.”

1.      Joy And Praise - Loads of It

2.      Fear and Anxiety

3.      Anger and Frustration

4.     Grief and Despair

5.      Honesty and Repentance

God Is Not Intimidated by Emotional Complexity - He Created Us…

God Desires Relationship Over Ritual

Authenticity Is Central to a Deep Spiritual Life

God Desires Your Real Heart, not a Rehearsed One

From “In the Beginning” to Amen // The God Who Makes A Way

2 Samuel 14:14 (NIV)

“Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person does not remain banished from him.”

God devises means so the banished are not forever separated from Him.

2 Peter 3:9 (AMP)

“The Lord does not delay [as though He were unable to act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is [extraordinarily] patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

Life Is Fragile and Fleeting

Humanity Is Banished by Sin

Sin Always Pushes Us Away from God

God Desires Relationship

God Could Leave Us, But He Does Not

God Has Always Desired Nearness

God Wants Restoration, Not Rejection

God Devises Means and Uses Circumstances

Circumstances Become Invitations

Your Current Circumstance May Be a Doorway

God Wastes Nothing When He Is Drawing Our Hearts Toward Him

Jesus Is the Ultimate Example

God Did Not Merely Send Help - He Came Himself

Luke 15:7 - All Heaven Rejoices When One Lost Returns Home

God Still Wants a Relationship with You

From “In the Beginning” to Amen // David

David

He was a son, shepherd, musician, warrior, king, fugitive, father, adulterer, liar, murderer, and a man after God’s own heart.

1 Samuel 13:14 (ESV)

“But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”

Biblical Heart

The control center of your life.

David and Bathsheba

2 Samuel 11:1 (NIV)

“At the time when kings go to war… David stayed home.”

SlideThis is an abuse of power. This is manipulation. This is murder.

David shows us again, that it’s not a question of if we will fail, but what to do when we do.

Psalm 51 (ESV)

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.”

“Have mercy on me, O God” …

“I know my transgressions…”

“Create in me a clean heart…”

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation” …

“That’s what true repentance sounds like.”

David’s greatness was not that he didn’t fall.

It was this: he knew where to go when he did.

“Repentance Isn’t Punishment—It’s Realignment.”

Cultivating A Heart After God’s Heart

Humble Yourself

James 4:10 (NIV)

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”

“God, I really need you.”

Acknowledge Your Brokenness

1 John 1:8-9 (MSG)

“If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—simply come clean about them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing.”

James 5:16 (MSG)

“Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed.”

Run Toward God

Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

A man after God’s heart isn’t someone who never fails…

It’s someone who knows where to run when they do.

Psalm 115:4-8 (ESV)

“Those who make [idols] become like them, so do all who trust in them.”

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV)

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

Romans 12:1-2 (ESV)

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

From “In the Beginning” to Amen // Faith and Action Hand in Hand

“THE ANALYSIS PARALYSIS”

“Perhaps”

God Can Accomplish All He Wants to Do, Whether by Many or by Few (Or Two)

FAITH AND COURAGE GO HAND IN HAND

James 2:14, 26 (NIV)

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save

them? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”

Jonathan Engages Faith… Rallies Courage… And Takes Action

1. Let’s Show Ourselves

2. 3. 4. We Will Trust God to Guide Us

They Give It Their All

They Fight… They Fight and Win!

Our Faith… Our Courage…Our Action… Can Bring Liberty… Courage… And Life to Others

From “In the Beginning” to Amen // Ruth

Ruth 1:6-18 (NIV)

“When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. With her two daughters-in-law, she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah. Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, ‘Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.’ Then she kissed them goodbye, and they wept aloud and said to her, ‘We will go back with you to your people.’ But Naomi said, ‘Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons who could become your husbands? Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me!’ At this, they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her. ‘Look,” said Naomi, ‘your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.’ But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.’ When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.”

Ruth 1:16 (NIV)

“Your people will be my people and your God my God.”

Sometimes The Bravest Thing You Can Do Is Take The Next Step.

My Pain Is Real, But It Is Not My Identity.

In God’s Family, There Are No Outsiders.

Take The Next Step Or Stay Where You Are.

More Than a Clean Slate: A Life That Flourishes

John 10:10 (NIV)

“I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”

Forgiveness Is the Beginning, Not the End

God Doesn’t Forgive You Just to Reset You—He Forgives You to Release You into Everything That Was Purposed for You.

Jesus Did Not Rise Just to Leave You Empty—He Rose to Fill You.

The Resurrection Is Not About Subtraction of Sin Only—It Is About the Addition of Life.

Here Is the New Reality:

•     We Are Not Just Declared “Not Guilty”

•     You Are Now Called a Child of God, Alive in Christ

•     We Are Not Just Set Free from the Power of Sin

•     Our Life Has New Direction, Meaning and Power

•     We Are Not Just Given a Behavior Management Manual

•     We Are Given a New Empowered Way of Living Differently Where We Grow in Love, Joy, Peace, Etc.

Receive More Than Forgiveness - Walk in the Newness of Life

Jesus Didn’t Walk Out of the Grave So We Could Stay the Same

The Cross Erases Our Past—But the Resurrection Rewrites Our Future