Harmony Christian Church

? When was the last time you embraced criticism & correction in your life? How do you even know which voices to listen to and let speak into your life?  Join Kent as he dives into this important topic looking at the book of Proverbs. Let's grow together! ?? #SermonTime. IT'S EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316  to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ).

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OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

Years ago, when I was a youth pastor.  I was at this camp and we had a “morning show” it was basically a way to wake up all the kids and get them excited for the day.  We would get up there and do gross games and make jokes and make it super fun and set the expectation for the kids.  Every day I would have the kids turn to their neighbor and say, “best camp ever…” in a derogatory and negative way.  The kids would do it and I would laugh and get them to laugh and we’d move on.  Finally, my buddy Jason Schmidt pulled me aside after a few days of this and he rebuked me.  He said, “Kent, all the kids love you and follow you and when you make it like camp is no fun, you set the attitude for all of them…  you’re a leader, you need to lead them better…”

Man, that hit me hard…

If I’m honest, his words stung me a little bit.

But, as I sat back and looked at it

Most of my growth as a leader has come from the hard truthful things and the people who risked telling them to me rather than through the easy things of life.

don’t you find that to be true?

ILLUSTRATION:

Years ago I tried my hand at making knives.  The thing that shapes a knife from blank steel into an instrument you can cut with is heat, pressure, and friction.  

The process of producing a tool requires the removal and reshaping of material - it takes heat, pressure, and friction

SCRIPTURE:

This week, we are taking a breather from Basecamp because I want to challenge you to expand your thinking to be willing to embrace a concept that our world has in some ways lost.

Your growth as a human is partially a product of the heat, pressure, and friction in your life - so stop running from it.

Let me explain.  

I’ve told you the culture of the Kingdom of God is not the culture of the world we live in.  

One of my biggest worries is that over the course of Basecamp, you are going to hear certain concepts and ideas and because they challenge the status quo, you are going to reject them instead of being willing to consider them.

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They will feel like Rebuke, and our culture is scared to allow anyone to tell them they might be wrong.

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Let’s look at some of what the book of Proverbs says about Rebuke to give us a pattern to use for personal growth.

1.  Restructure your thinking about discipline…

Proverbs 12:1: "Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid."

Each week we are exploring different trailheads as a part of Basecamp that can lead you to deepen your faith.  This week we're exploring the next steps everyone needs to take in their faith. IT'S EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316  to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ).

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Trail Head 2 - Grab Your Gear

Understanding how to enter into a relationship with Jesus

Trail 3: Are there any next steps I need to take?

OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

One of my favorite little pieces of trivia for people when going on a road trip is that the lines in the middle of the highway and on the interstate are upwards of 8 feet long.  Did you know this?  I’ve been known to literally pull over, get out and lay down in the middle of the highway to prove it - this of course was done in Kansas because there are only 5 people in Kansas and most days they are not out on the highway :).  It’s really true, the easiest way to see it is when you are driving your car, try and compare the length of your car to the lines, and you’ll be blown away. 

Do you know why we don’t realize how long the lines are?

It’s because

When you move fast, it’s easy to miss how big things can really be.

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Today, we’re going to look at some big ideas that TONS of people have moved past too quickly oftentimes in their faith.  

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These three things are foundational pieces in your formation and growth as a Christian.  

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One of the questions you are going to want to ask yourself today as we study is: 

“Have I slowed down enough to really consider how these foundational pieces have fit into my life?”

Let’s jump in.

To look forward, we need to look backward.  Let’s read 

Acts 2:36-39

36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

Peter has just preached the first sermon of the first church ever.  When he does, thousands of people are listening and they are cut to the heart.  When the people ask him what to do, Peter gives them two responses they need to do.

Repent and be baptized

Depending on how you grew up, you may have different ideas about what repentance and baptism mean.

Biblically, they are very simple ideas

Biblically,

? Ready for a wild ride? Imagine trading your busy chaos for a divine encounter that changes everything. Let's dive into Acts 2:42-47 and ask, "What made those early Christians shift their lives so dramatically?" ? Join us at Harmony Christian Church and let's explore together! ? IT'S EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316  to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ).

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OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

I have a basic principle I live my life by.  I learned it teaching my kids to ride their bikes.  I’ve shared this before, but I think it’s a good way to set up this sermon.  My kids, when they were learning to ride their bikes, would always look down at their feet.  They’d inevitably end up in the ditch. It finally hit me, it’s because they were looking at where they were instead of where they wanted to go.  

It’s become a principle in my life:

Look where you want to go, not where you are.

In life, lots of us are stuck and doing all the same things we’ve done for years.  We are being dragged around by the 

Tyranny of the urgent

Some of you don’t know how you got so busy, working multiple jobs, taking kids to endless practices, keeping up with the jones’.  Buying cars & trucks you don’t need, etc.

You don’t know where you want to go, so you just give your time, attention, and resource to whatever is “loudest”

Today, I want us to go on a quick adventure.  

We are going to look at a group of people who got a glimpse of a place they want to go and completely shifted what they were doing because of their encounter.

SCRIPTURE:

We are jumping into the first church that ever existed.  Jesus has died, risen from the dead and He ascended into Heaven.  He is no longer on earth.  

Listen to what happens after Peter preaches this sermon - thousands come to Christ and this is what these early Christians do.  If you’ve been in church for very long, you’ve probably heard a sermon on this passage:

Acts 2:42-47

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

I want to ask a question I’ve never heard anyone ask.

What was it that caused these people to shift their patterns of behavior so drastically?

I know for you, you’ve grown up in a culture where it’s acceptable to worship Jesus - this God/man who they had all seen and experienced but now the story is he flew up into the sky.  What made them think they needed to continue on with anything?  What mad

Ever been surprised by someone's true nature? Join us as we explore John's encounter with Jesus in Revelation. Just like John, let's open our hearts to discover that Jesus is more than we can imagine. Tune in and don't miss out on this journey of encountering the extraordinary Jesus! ?  IT'S EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316  to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ).

Oh man, there is nothing better than The Princess Bride!!!

“I am not left-handed!”

Sometimes, people are not what they seem.

Today, we are going to look at an encounter with Jesus that showed him to not be who he had been thought to be…

INTRO:

We are jumping to the year 95 AD.

John the Apostle is now an old man.  He has been preaching about Jesus for years.  His skin has gone from stretched taught to wrinkled and thin.  He has preached about his experience for the past 60 years or so.  The stories have dug deep grooves in him and his experiences with Jesus are distant memories.  Fishing with him, sitting around campfires, bewildered by meeting Him, and watching Him work with people.  John has written his account of Jesus and he has led a church full of people devoted to Jesus - this man who turned out to be God in the flesh.

Now, an emperor of the Roman Empire has taken root named Domitian.  He became violent towards Christians.

Domitian brought the second great persecution against Christians.  

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"[Domitian] showed great cruelty toward many, and, after displaying various kinds of hatred and avarice and pleasure-seeking and pride, he finally became a successor of Nero in his hatred toward God. He was the second to raise persecution against us, although his father Vespasian had undertaken nothing prejudicial to us." (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, Book 3, Chapter 17)

During this time, John, the apostle is sentenced to be imprisoned on the Island of Patmos - in the Aegean Sea - this beautiful location for vacationing today - would have been difficult living then - just rock/brush

It is here that we enter John’s story and his encounter.

Revelation 1:9-18

9 I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 On the Lord’s Day 

This is Sunday - it’s the day Jesus rose from the dead and the reason Christians meet on this day…  John is worshipping by himself because he’s been abandoned here.

I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

John is worshi

Are we truly seeking God's Kingdom first, or are we trying to make God fit into our own desires and expectations? Join us online and be sure to sign up for Encounter on Wednesday nights launching September 13th! ?  IT'S EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316  to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ).

OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

All right, let’s get down to brass tacks - who is the most annoying customer/client you’ve ever dealt with?  You know, the one who is CONSTANTLY changing the specs of their design, or is constantly complaining about the level of service.  The customer who is never happy or never satisfied.  

I was in a store the other day and there was this woman and her husband who had purchased a product, used the product several times, and then wanted to return it and exchange it for a different one.  The type of product it was was the kind of thing that once you use it, it’s used.  It was the most uncomfortable 15 minutes of my life listening to this couple harass this young worker trying to get her to return the item.  I literally almost stepped in and was like, “Can I help y’all?”

What do you do when “the customer is always right” isn’t right?

Now I know it depends on your industry and what your business is.  Most of you probably know that taking a loss in your business is worth keeping most customers.

But there are industries and arenas of life where this idea of “the customer is always right” actually sets a person up for failure.

Imagine a teacher operating under those standards…

ILLUSTRATION:

When I was in bible college, I had this afternoon class with a handful of students.  When the professor showed up I said, “This college pays you, right?”  He said, “Yes” I said, “and they get their funds to pay you from the tuition we pay, right?”  He said, “Yes,”  I said, “and whoever pays your salary is your boss, so let us do you a favor and give you the day off - you’ve earned it…”  He laughed and said, “No”.   

Ha, because the customer is not always right.

One of the core dangers that is created inside of Americans from “the customer is always right” and other phrases we live by is that we all too easily begin to see our worlds from an egocentric point of view.

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We can too easily view ourselves as the center of the universe.

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And that is eternally dangerous…

I want to walk us into a story of Encountering God that so elegantly cuts through the malarkey and helps us see ourselves in the proper context…  Check it out…

SET UP:

What we are about to enter into is from the time of the pharaohs.  The Israelites have followed Moses out into the desert and now they are about to move into the promised land.  This is the in-between them taking those first few steps into Canaan and the life they had lived wandering in the desert for 40 years.  Joshua has just finished taking all the young men and circumcising them.  

They are on the cusp of a massive change in their history.&