SERMON NOTES (click arrow to the right to open)

Main Idea:

Part 1- Life is a series of separations, so consider the end, the final separation - what will your joy be?

Part 2- The written Word points to the Living Word, which is the only way to change your heart.

Sermon Notes:

Part 1: 1 Thessalonians 2:17-20

- Life is a series of separations/goodbyes

- Separations are often Painful (for parents and for pastors)

- Separations can be Spiritual (a demonic maneuver or orchestrated by God)

- Separations should always make us Intentional

- Begin with the end in mind - at the ultimate end, where will your joy be?

Part 2: It's the Gospel Truth, 1 Thessalonians 2:13-14

- This passage is why the church in Thessalonica got started and remained - same story for Heritage and for YOU

Remember:

- The Bible IS understandable

- The Bible is Finished - complete, you can't add to it

- The Bible is to be obeyed - it is timeline and universal

I. God Speaks

- Hearing the Word of God includes commentary/preaching

-- 1 Corinthians 2:13

-- 1 Peter 4:11

- the spoken Word about the written Word is all the Word of God - just not of equal authority

- Hebrews 1:1-2 - the ultimate word is Jesus (Living Word) - he is the final word we should all proclaim

- Acts 10:42-44

Spoken Word: Preaching

Written Word: Bible

Living Word: Jesus

*all three of these are required

II. We Respond

- books are intended to be READ

- Take time to CHEW your Bible, like you would your food, to get the most out of it

- Reception of the Word can be impacted by the state of your soul

-- It can fall on the path, the rocky soil, the crowded soil, or the good soil (Matthew 13, Luke 8, Mark 4)

- Take some responsibility to cultivate!

-- it's easier for a seed to take root in broken ground - does it require a broken heart?

III. The Word Works

- what's the litmus test to know it's working?

-- it's a pattern - you'll see things you also see in other believers

-- sacrifice is a demonstration of what's important to you

---- when you prize Jesus (the Living Word) over everything else, that's when it's working

---- is the Word LIFE to you?

- to get this Book IN YOU, YOU have to get IN the Book

- This written Word points to the Living Word - may HE be the most precious thing to you.

Application Questions:

1. Pastor Jim mentioned a few ways to get into the Word - following along at church, reading independently. What other ways can you get into the Word? What methods have been effective for you, in trying to spend more time with the Living Word?

2. Just as there are signs that the Word is working, what are some signs your heart might be off-track and not having Jesus at its center?

3. How can you look for and combat the distractions that take your heart away from having Jesus at its center?

4. What do YOU prize most? How do you see yourself making sacrifices for that thing?

5. How can you begin to make sacrifices that will show the world Jesus is the most precious thing to you?

SERMON NOTES (click arrow to the right to open)

Main Idea:

Church leadership requires evaluation by the community, the leader's conscience, and God's judgment. In leadership, both the message and the method matter.

Sermon Notes:

Background on Gospel-Centered Church series: the gospel, the good news, the proclamation of Jesus' sacrifice must be the center of the church and you.

Gospel-Centered Leadership-

- Paul appealed/evaluated in three ways: (1) The Community, (2) His Conscience, and (3) God's Judgment.

- Message and Method/Communication and Conduct are indivisible. See this expectation in John 1:1-14.

(1) As a Committed Steward we are:

a. approved by God

b. entrusted with the Gospel

c. evaluated by God

(2) As a caring parent we are:

a. Maternal: caring, loving, giving

b. Paternal: encouraging, comforting, challenging

A. The Community

- results

- sacrifice demonstrates sincerity

- your experience

B. Your Conscience

- 1 Corinthians 4:1-4

- We must recognize that we don't get the final say on ourselves because we can also be deceived about our own heart

C. God's Judgment

- 1 Corinthians 4:5

These are the standard expectations for leadership in the Church and, sometimes, there are tensions between these 3 elements.

Application Questions:

1. Where can you apply the three elements of church leadership in your own life (even if you are not a leader in the church)? How so?

2. How might you be deceiving yourself when judging your own actions and how can you turn that over to God's judgment instead?

3. How can you use these three elements to measure how centered you are on the gospel?

4. Have you ever had to leave something you loved - a community, a job, a church, a place you lived? What did you do to make sure your legacy there exemplified the good news of the gospel?

SERMON NOTES (click arrow to the right to open)

Main Idea:

What is in your heart determines how you live your life.

Sermon Notes:

There are two masters -

1. Master of the Material - what you can see

2. Master of the Soul - what you cannot see - God

There are really only two primary commands:

1. Love God with all your heart

2. Love your neighbor as yourself

The most important part of life is relationships. Everything else falls away. As you think about life and retirement, invest also in relationships. The healthiest and happiest people are those involved in healthy relationships. As you interact with people, try to see their soul, not just their outward appearance.

Application Questions:

1. Look back on the last couple of weeks, how have you lived your life? How much of your time was focused on work? How much of your time was focused on relationships with your family, your friends, your co-workers or neighbors?

2. What do you do during the week to prepare work and career? What do you do during the week to prepare work and career? How could you make sure you fit time into each day preparing your soul?

3. Describe a healthy relationship. Would you say you have many healthy relationships, or may superficial relationships? What can you do to invest more in healthy relationships?

4. When you look at people what do you notice first? When you are in church, how do you see others? When you are at the mall, what do you see? Are you seeing their soul or just an outer shell, a physical appearance? Are you seeing them as a child of God? How about at work, how do you see your co-workers? How do you see your neighbors? How do you see other drivers during rush hour traffic?

SERMON NOTES (click arrow to the right to open)

Main Idea:

The core of the Church is the Gospel. My center is my commitment to Christ, when the Gospel takes hold in heart and soul and new life begins.

Sermon Notes:

- We all face times when we feel like we don't measure up or belong. It's meaningful to know that we are loved, wanted, and that we belong.

- LUKE 11:13

- Knowing that we belong to Christ and that we are loved by him is a strong and secure foundation for faith

- There is no greater power than the unconditional love of God that reassures us that we are loved and secure in his care

- 3 ways we know this to be true:

1. THINGS WE KNOW (! Thessalonians 1:4-5)

- Paul, Timothy, & Silas could sense that the Thessalonians received the Gospel through the power of the Holy Spirit and a deep conviction they felt in themselves and they noticed in the people

- The communicator's perspective helps to your sense of calling and affirm what happened to you when you first believed the Gospel

2. THINGS YOU KNOW (1 Thessalonians 1:5-6)

- You know that you received the message and you celebrate receiving it; you feel a great sense of joy in believing the Gospel to be true

- ACTS 17:5-9

- You will face opposition and resistance for receiving and believing the truth of the Gospel. But being secure in the Gospel truth will allow you to stand strong.

- Apart from Jesus, you will never find true life or meaning

3. THINGS EVERYONE KNOWS (1 Thessalonians 1:7-10)

- You hear back about what others have been saying, seeing, and observing about how you live your life and how you act upon receiving the Gospel

- Receiving this feedback from others is meant to secure your foundation and encourage you to keep going

- Descriptors others used to describe the change in the Thessalonians:

Turned to God from idols

Serve the living and true God

Wait for his son from heaven

- Anything you worship other than God will eventually enslave you; only God will grant you true freedom

Application Questions:

1. Have you turned to God and away from idols? What idols still have a strong hold/influence in your life?

2. How are you serving the true and living God?

3. Are you waiting for Jesus to come to your rescue?

SERMON NOTES (click arrow to the right to open)

Main Idea:

The gospel -- what God did for us in Christ -- must be at the center of the community we call the church,

Sermon Notes:

1. 1 Thessalonians is a letter to a church that Paul deeply loved. It’s personal and emotional, but also practical and instructive.

2. Everything has a beginning; something or someone started it. If we stay focused on that, whatever started well likely will continue.

3. What brought the church together, birthed it, is the announcement that God had sent the Messiah to rescue His people. This is the gospel.

4. Paul and the man in the video we saw both emphasized the gospel and how God gives us His grace. (God’s riches at Christ’s expense)

5. If we trust in and receive God’s grace, a humble gratitude flows out of us, maybe even a sense of indebtedness, although we can’t and aren’t required to repay this grace.

6. This message of grace gives us security so we don’t need to look to our accomplishments or what other people think of us for security.

7. The gospel started the church, and the church should spread the gospel, which starts other churches.

8. In this passage Paul mentions three items that inform us and shape our thinking about the church: leadership, membership, fellowship.

9. Paul didn’t demand leadership as his right, but he let the church confirm it.

10. Christians form communities because God dwells in community as three persons; the trinity implies community. Everything we become as a person and a group flows out of the connection we make with the God who is.

11. To truly be a member of God’s Church and family, we need to lean on, rely on and trust in Christ. We don’t get there by doing something or stopping something we’re doing; that’s us trying to save ourselves. The gospel is the center, not burdens on our to-do list.

12. Three qualities that should describe the church community are faith, love and hope.

13. Because of our faith in Jesus, we work, do good deeds. The faith that saves us is never alone; works demonstrate that commitment.

14. Love isn’t just a feeling. It is evident in how we think about and talk about each other, how we treat each other.

15. Hope inspires us to make a contribution in this life because we know it will count in this world and will continue. This hope also comforts us for wrongs that happen.

16. Heritage will be having an hour of prayer on Sundays in April through June beginning at 8:00 am and Jim asked everyone to go at least once.

17. Other passages referenced: Acts 17:1-4, 1 Cor. 15:1-4

Application Questions:

1. Describe a situation when someone gave you something you didn’t deserve and how you reacted.

2. What are some things other than God that people look to for security?

3. Describe a situation when you’ve been the odd man out – didn’t feel like you really belonged. What did you do about it?

4. What’s the story of your beginning with Christ? Your beginning with Heritage?

5. Have you ever told someone that you thank God for them and how you’re praying for them? How did they react? Has someone ever told you that, and how did you react?

6. What are some things people do to try to save themselves?

7. What kind of work do you do to show your commitment to Christ?

SERMON NOTES (click arrow to the right to open)

Main Idea:

God wants to work in our lives His resurrection power, the same power that He used to raise Jesus.

Sermon Notes:

God wants to work in our lives the same power that He used to raise Jesus. We’ll call this Resurrection Power. We heard from three families who have seen this power in their lives. Our prayer is that God will give us faith, which will result in a greater confidence and trust in Him and then we’ll share this resurrection power. When we see what God is able to do through people’s stories, that puts hope in us.

Eric and Tiffany – physical healing

In Sept. 2010 Eric had a gall stone, which turned into kidney failure, sepsis and an 8-week coma on a ventilator. His situation became a waiting game, as it was so bad he wouldn’t be able to have surgery to correct it for 3-4 weeks. Once he did have surgery, doctors told Tiffany that he had a slim chance of survival. In the next month he had eight more surgeries. He finally woke up, but couldn’t talk and could move only one finger. It seemed that anything that could go wrong did.

He was finally able to go home in Feb. 2011 with an open wound and IVs, and he was on dialysis. He was in and out of the hospital until July. Then in August 2014 he had a kidney transplant and is doing well today.

They realized that we are not promised tomorrow and that we need to live one day at a time based on faith and hope. When Eric woke up he knew he could either be angry or trust God.

Mary – mental restoration

Mary has bipolar I, which is a severe, chronic, psychotic mood disorder. It’s not well understood and people with it are often judged. People who have it also judge themselves and don’t understand it. Mary would have a few hours of feel-good mania, and then fear and anger. She didn’t have control over her mind and would hurt people.

Before she was diagnosed, she tried to treat herself with alcohol, and tried to take her own life. After diagnosis, medication helped sometimes and she would be better for a while, and then get worse again. At one point professionals didn’t know how to help her and she ended up in a state hospital for 8 months. Her faith was challenged because she had worked hard and tried to do the right thing. At her darkest point she was put in a nursing home with plans to be there for the rest of her life. She had stopped praying because it didn’t seem to work.

She finally called out to God for help and was able to leave the nursing home. She realized that Christ was pulling her back gradually. She came to Heritage in 2007 and it wasn’t like any church she’d experienced. The Spirit kept allowing her to press in. Through that she’s rich in love for her Christian brothers and sisters and she’s been restored in amazing ways. There were times she wanted to die, but is thankful to be alive and have her grandchildren.

Her suggestion for anyone we know going through restoration is to walk beside them and love them. Don’t just tell them what to do.

Keith and Amy – relational reconciliation

Keith and Amy were married in 1996 and were a happy family for many years; they loved each other deeply. Then troubles barreled down on them and they weren’t equipped to handle them. They started fighting a lot and got to the point where they couldn’t stand each other. They separated in August 2011 and were divorced the next May. They have three children busy with activities, so they communicated through e-mail because talking didn’t work out.

By July, Amy didn’t want to live because she wasn’t happy and thought she wasn’t a good mother. But she heard God tell her to call Keith and go home. She moved back to their home in August but things weren’t good for another year.

One bad day, a friend of Keith’s invited him to church. He got the message to wake up. He learned that he couldn’t change Amy; they both learned they had to change themselves. Keith wanted Amy to go to church, and she finally went, even though she didn’t want to. They learned how to work together and communicate. One day they both received the book Jesus Calling from friends.

Amy says that God told her that when faced with decisions, she shouldn’t just take the easy way, but she should take the hard road and keep pressing on.

Application Questions:

1. Do you think it’s easier for us to discuss health issues rather than mental and relational struggles? If so, why?

2. What were some common themes between the three stories?

3. Describe a situation you’ve been in when you could have been angry at God or trusted Him. Which did you choose?

4. Have there been times when you haven’t seen the answer to your prayers that you wanted? Describe. How did you react? Is that how you generally process seemingly unanswered prayers?

5. What do you think about Amy’s statement that we should take the hard road? Describe a situation when you were faced with that kind of decision. Which road did you take?

6. Have you experienced a time when you stopped believing and asking? Describe the situation and your reaction. Did you ask God to give you more faith?

7. What would your story be?

8. Could you take steps toward community in situations like those shared today? What is the most important thing for us to do to help bring restoration for others?