Impact Christian Church

The life you have is often a reflection of the thoughts you think.

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NIV

Two Concepts

Mental Filter: A mistake in reasoning based on personal experiences or preferences Reframing: creating a different way of looking at a situation or relationship by changing its meaning

2 Truths

You can’t control what happens to you. But…you can control how you frame it.

 Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. 13As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Philippians 1:12-13 NIV

And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.Philippians 1:14 NIV

 REFRAMING YOUR STORY

Thank God for what didn’t happen. Practice re-framing. Look for God’s goodness in every situation.

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Most of life’s battles are won or lost in your mind

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 NIV

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV

Winning the FIGHT IN YOUR HEAD

Our lives are always moving in the direction of our strongest thoughts. For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. … Proverbs 23:7 NKJV The life we have is a reflection of the thoughts we think.

Thought Process

Worried NegativeWorldly      

You cannot have a positive life when you have a negative mind

Identify the biggest stronghold holding you back. Name the truth that demolishes that stronghold.

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV

His divine power has given us everything we need for a Godly life ...2 Peter 1:3 NIV

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Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.Galatians 6:7-9 NIV

 TRUTH: People who flourish do consistently what others do occasionally.

TRUTH: It’s the small things no one sees that lead to the big results everyone wants.

Rules for Sowing and Reaping

You reap what you sow But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil ... Hosea 10:13 NIV If you don’t like what you’re reaping, change what you’re sowing. You reap more than you sow “And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” Mark 4:20 NLT Small, Smart Choices + Consistency + Time = Radical Difference You reap more than you sow You reap after you sow. Our entire life is the sum-total of all the small decisions that we make. We don’t judge the success of the today by the harvest we reap, but by the seeds we sow.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9 NIV

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With God’s help, we will choose what we want most over what we want now.

Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 27I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. … 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!1 Corinthians 9:24 

Key Points:

You’ve been trying to hard for too long. Stop trying/ Start training Trying never achieves consistent results. Training does. TRYING: is an attempt to change with minimal commitment.  TRAINING: is wholehearted commitment to achieve a specific result. When you train , You tend to your own fire

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. 1 Corinthians 9:25

… train yourself to be godly. 1 Timothy 4:7

Training is doing what I can do today to enable me to do even more tomorrow.

 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 27I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. … 1 Corinthians 9:26-27

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I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 18… I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. … 24Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Romans 7:15, 18-19, 24 NLT

Help, I’m Outa Control!

Discipline is choosing what you want most over what you want now. Desires don’t determine who you become. Disciplines determine who you become. Willpower doesn’t work.

CRAZY TRAIN LIFE: WALK IN THE FLESH

I’M BAD – TRY HARD -WILL WEAKENS – FAILURE -GUILT & SHAME -REPEATOh, what a miserable person I am! … Romans 7:24 NLT… Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. …Romans 7:24-25 NLTSo I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Galatians 5:16 NIV

peripateo—continuous regular action, habitual way of life

TENDED FIRE LIFE:

WALK IN SPIRIT

I BELONG TO JESUS–DEPEND ON SPIRIT -BUILDS MY FAITH-RIGHT ACTIONS-ClOSER TO GOD-REPEATBut the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control … Galatians 5:22-23

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Pastor Bob McFadden

Trust Tree

God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy SpiritGod’s Word — The BibleChurch leaders, parents, family and friends — to the degree they follow God and the Bible

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.John 3:16 NIV

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” –– John13:34-35

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 NIV

The Secret — Pray that someone is there to love you and pick up your pieces.

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For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.John 3:16 NIV

2 Kinds of Love

A love that loves because the object is valuable. A love that loves and gives value to the object.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 NIV

God’s love makes you worthy.

… God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:8-10 NIV

When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?”Luke 9:54 NIV

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.Romans 8:38-39 NIV

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I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. 9No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. … 11You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever. Psalm 16:8-9, 11

But I cry to you for help, Lord; in the morning my prayer comes before you. 14Why, Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me?       Psalm 88:13-14

WHY DON’T WE ALWAYS FEEL GOD?

Maybe you’re over sensationalizing God’s presence. So they asked [Jesus], “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?” John 6:30 NIV Truth: If you always felt God, you wouldn’t need faith. 2. Maybe your heart has hardened. … “‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. …’” Matthew 13:14-153. Maybe God just wants to draw you closer. “From one man [God] made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.” Acts 17:26-27“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you,” declares the Lord … Jeremiah 29:13-14

Just because God feels distant doesn’t mean God is absent.

“I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.” Psalm 16:8 NLT

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You’re focusing on the poison of religion, and forgetting the power of grace.

Religion is our attempt to earn God’s approval by following all the rules. For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. Titus 2:11 NIV charis: the unmerited goodwill and favor of God •The grace that saves you is also the grace that sustains you.For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age … Titus 2:11-12 NIV

How Does God’s Grace Change Us?

 The focus of religion is outward.“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.” Matthew 23:25-26 NIV

The power of grace is inward.

I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Ephesians 3:16 NLT • •Religion says, “Try harder.” • •Grace says, “Trust more.” But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 10… For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV You’re trying to meet a need or relieve a hurt with something besides God’s grace. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more. Romans 5:20 NIV

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Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.Psalm 20:7 NIV

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Psalm 13:1-2 NIV

How do you grow to trust in a God you can’t see?

You question.“We’re closer to God when we’re asking questions than when we think we hold all the answers.”“It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” Mark 9:22 NIVGod would rather you run to Him with your questions then run from Him with your doubts!You Pray“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” 24Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Mark 9:23-24 NIVYou SurrenderChoose to trust God, even when you don’t understand.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV

Trusting God doesn’t mean you always get what you want.

Trusting God means that no matter what happens, you believe that God loves you and is working all things for your good.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.Romans 8:28 NIV

 

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