Ephesians 1:4, “He chose us in Him, before the foundations of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight.”

Acts 9:1-6, "Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. Ashe neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

God calls us to a relationship.

Being must precede doing.

God’s Call Requires Obedience.

John 15:16, “You did not choose me, but I chose you. I appointed you that you should go out and produce fruit, and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.”

Philippians 4:19, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory.”

1 Thessalonians 2:4, “We speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts.”

Challenge:
Make sure being a Christ follower precedes doing the work of the ministry.

Affirm the Center before Exploring the Edges.

Balance Theory with Practice.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (For Jews do0 not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is dep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

Homosexuality is not the unpardonable sin but it is sin.

Leviticus 18:22 “Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.”

Romans 1:24-27 Therefore, God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about
God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator – who is forever praised Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. IN the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.”

Can a person be born gay?

Are homosexual desires God-given?

Should same-sex marriage be legal?

How should Christians respond to these issues?

John 4:39; 41, “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” And because of his words many more became believers.

Titus 2:3-5 - Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

A Mother of Influence Loves Her Husband.

Ephesians. 5:33 - Each one of you must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

A Mother of Influence Loves Her Children.

Exodus 20:12 – Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long.

Prov. 1:8 – Listen my son to your father’s instructions and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

10:1 – A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.

23:22 – Listen to our father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

A Mother of Influence Loves the Home.

Children need Godly moms or they will become isolated, unstable, high risk children.

5 suggestions on how to think more critically about being a mother of influence.

1. Get away and take time for yourself alone.
2. Give your children to God.
3. Ask yourself why am I doing what I’m doing?
4. What am I communicating to my children with my life?
5. Am I willing to take risks to be a mother of influence?

Tell your mom or a woman in your life how she has positively influenced your life.

Question: Why is there so much suffering in this world if God is good and in control?
1 Corinthians 13:12-13
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

We don’t see fully

Psalm 86:15
But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness and truth.

God is not the author of evil

We are free

Romans 5:3-4
And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;

God is in the business of setting things right

Philippians 2:5-11
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
God suffered too.

Challenge: Demonstrate the love of Christ to those you meet this week.

2 Timothy 3:16 - "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be equipped for every good work."

Objection 1 - The Gospels are filled with contradictions.

Answer: The Gospels are written by four different authors from four different perspectives but they still harmonize.

Objection 2 - The Gospels were written too far after the events actually happened to be considered reliable?

1 Corinthians 15:3-9 - "For what I received I passed on to you as of first important: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of who are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God."

Answer: Jesus’ activities and teachings were written down within the life-times of those who knew him.

Objection 3 - The Bible has been copied and translated so many times has it been corrupted?

Answer: All reputable versions begin with the oldest and best Greek and Hebrew manuscripts and are translated directly into contemporary language.

Objection 4 - Is it more likely the Bible contains some truth and some error?

Answer: If you believe in a God who created the universe is it hard to imagine he could implant a life in a young virgin or part the Red Sea?