Handling Life’s Failures

When God Says No

April 30, 2017

Please turn in your Bibles to 2Samuel 7:1-29 (NIV)

Do you have a broken dream?

 Some of us may be in a season of misery: It’s a tough season

 Some of us may be in a season of ministry: It’s a terrific season

 Some of us may be in a season of mystery: It’s a trusting season.

-That’s where David is

-2Samuel 7:1-3: David has an idea

-2Samuel 7:4-17: God says, “No”

“You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in.” 1Chronicles 17:4b

“You did well to have it in your heart to build a temple for my Name.”

2Chronicles 6:8b

Compare Luke 1:31-32 to 2Samuel 7:12-16

“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord

God will give Him the throne of His father David, 33 and He will reign over

Jacob’s descendants forever; His kingdom will never end.” Luke 1:31-32

Right Posture When God Says No

 V 18a: Sit down

 V 18b-21: Consider where you are

 V 22-24: Consider where you’ve been

 V 25-29: Consider where you’re going

God has a better idea!

What is God’s Spirit speaking into your life today? How must you respond?

“What’s Love Got to do With It?”

April 23, 2017

1 Corinthians 13

Love Defined:

Love is… Love is not…

1. Patient 1. Jealous

2. Kind 2. Boastful

3. Always rejoicing when 3. Proud

truth wins 4. Demanding its own way

4. Never giving up 5. Irritable

5. Never losing faith 6. Recording every wrong

6. Always hopeful 7. Rejoicing in injustice

7. Enduring in all circumstances 8. Giving up

Verse 8: “Love will last forever!”

In summary here God is simply saying…

1. The gifts of the Spirit require Love to be useful.

2. Our Knowledge of God and the Bible are incomplete without his love

3. Love will last forever

4. These three remain: Faith, Hope and Love, the greatest is Love!

Application: How do we apply this to our daily lives?

Paul is clearly expressing and declaring that LOVE is the foundation, the beginning and the end of everything we say and do.

1. Love God

2. Love Our Family, our brothers and sisters in Christ, the Church

3. Love those who do not believe

Our challenge for today is to…

1. Love God more everyday (One Lord)

2. Love your Family more everyday (One Team)

3. Love Estes – the world all around you everyday (One Mission)

Find ways to grow in God’s love and show God’s love to each person you encounter.

Avoiding Life’s Pitfalls

David and the Ark

April 9, 2017

Please turn in your Bibles to 2Samuel 6 (NIV)

But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man

about whom God said, “I have found David son of Jesse, a man

after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.”

Acts 13:22

App: May your greatest ambition be to know God and enjoy Him forever

Ark: “box” or “chest”.

Ark of the Covenant: A forerunner to Christ demonstrating God’s desire to be with us

“I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among His people! He will live with them, and they will be His people. God Himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

Revelation 21:3-4 NLT

Ichabod: God’s presence has departed

-Why did David’s first attempt to bring the Ark home fail?

App: Zeal for the Lord can never replace obedience

App: God’s work must be done God’s way

-Why did David’s second attempt succeed?

1Chronicles 15:1-13 tells us he finally did the homework

What is God’s Spirit speaking into your life today? How must you respond?

Five Gifts of the Resurrection

Easter 2017

April 16, 2017

Please turn in your Bibles to 1Corinthians 15:12-20

1: _______ (V 14): Who can you trust?

2: _______ (V 14a, 15): What can you believe?

3: __________ (V 17): Why is this world such a mess?

He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification

Romans 4:25

4: _________ (V 18): What does your future hold?

5: _________ (V 19): What legacy will you leave behind?

“Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

2Corinthians 4:17

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

1Corinthians 15:58

Avoiding Life’s Pitfalls:

New King, New Throne: Same Lord

April 2, 2017

Please turn in your Bibles to 2Samuel 2:1-5 (NIV)

2Samuel 2:1a: In the course of time…

App: Where are you in the course of time? (ref. Ecclesiastes 3:11)

2Samuel 2:1b: David inquired of the LORD.

App: When have you inquired of the Lord in an important matter? (ref. Proverbs 3:5-6)

2Samuel 2:1c: David asked, “Where shall I go?”

App: Have you learned to pray specifics?

Praying Specifics

• Helps clarify what God wants and what we really need

• Demonstrates faith that God will answer prayer the best way possible

• Makes us alert to answers

• Increases our faith

• Highlights how God loves to exceed expectation

Chapters 1-5 highlight success in fallibility

1: While David could rule a kingdom, he could lose his family

2: The same drive that led to victory could lead to indulgence in lust

3: Success could entrap in self-sufficiency and pride (ref. Psalm 78:70-72)

How might Psalm 78 read about you?

God chose ___________ His servant and took him from ________________ and brought him to be a shepherd to ______________________. And _______________ was faithful to shepherd them with integrity of heart and the skillfulness in which God endowed him/her.

What is God’s Spirit speaking into your life today? How must you respond?

Avoiding Life’s Pitfalls:

David Studies Part 3

Three Epitaphs: A Study of Contrast

March 26, 2017

Please turn in your Bibles to 1Samuel 31 (NIV)

Epitaph: what will your epitaph read?

King Saul: “I have played the fool…” 1Samuel 26:21b

“The fool says in his heart there is no God.” Psalm 14:1a, 53:1a

(also: 1Chronicles 10:13-14 (NKJV)

Analogy: Saul’s Death vs Christ’s Death

1: Death of hope (V 7)

“…we had hoped that He was the one who was going to redeem Israel.”

Luke 24:21a (also: Mark 14:51)

2: Darkness wins (V 8-10)

“From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land.”

Matthew 27:45

3: Destiny repaved (ref. 1Samuel 8:6-9)

4: Doors are opened (ref. Galatians 3:26-29)

5: Dissatisfaction/failure dismantled (ref. Romans 8:3-4)

6: Display of “foolishness”

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

1Corinthians 1:18

“…the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”

1Corinthians 1:25

What will your epitaph read?

What is God’s Spirit speaking into your life today? How must you respond?

“Cloudy Days and Dark Nights”

March 19, 2017

Big Idea: Faith is our compass

1 Samuel 27:1-12 (NLT)

A. What can we learn from David’s choices?

B. Then what happened to David here?

1. David chose Fear over trust

2. David chose his own reasoning over the wisdom of God

3. David chose the safety of an enemy over the presence of God

C. The Consequences of David’s choices become very real

What David lost?

Romans 5:3-5

Romans 12:1-2 (NLT)

D. What can we learn from David’s mistakes?

1. Ripple Effects

2. Trust in God and not in ourselves

3. God always keeps His promises

4. Faith is our compass leading always to God

When we are walking in God’s presence through the Holy Spirit living in us we are changed, we are transformed.

If you need freedom today come…

If you need hope today come…

If you need healing today come…

If you need restoring today come…

Don’t wait, don’t hesitate, don’t miss it! Come to Jesus today!

Avoiding Life’s Pitfalls: David Studies, Part 3

What to Feed an Angry Man

March 12, 2017

Please turn in your Bibles to 1Samuel 25 (NIV)

Then David said to his men, “Every man gird on his sword.” So every man girded on his sword, and David also girded on his sword. And about four hundred men went with David, and two hundred stayed with the supplies.

1Samuel 25:13

V 3: Abigail: intelligent and beautiful

Nabal: extremely wealthy, but self-absorbed and mean

V 25: Nabal = fool: “There is no God.” Psalm 14:1, 53:1

When Anger Shows its Ugly Head

1 (V 21-22): We will justify about anything

2 (V 18-31): Intervention goes a long way

A: Her timing was perfect

B: She humbled herself

C: She was in tune with God

3 (V 37-38): There are those we need to give to God

“Beloved, never avenge yourselves (taking matters into your

own hands), but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written,

‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’”

Romans 12:19 (NKJV)

What is God’s Spirit speaking into your life today? How must you respond?

Avoiding Life’s Pitfalls: David Studies Part 3

The Big, Yet Subtle Temptation

March 5, 2017

Please turn in your Bibles to 1Samuel 24

Three Things about David’s Character

V 5: He was conscience-stricken

V 7: He capitalized on teaching moments

V 8-15: He had absolute confidence in God

“May the LORD judge between you and me. And may the LORD avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you.”

1Samuel 24:12

Three Lessons in the En Geti Wilderness

1: We’re all messed up; expect to be mistreated

2: Mistreatment triggers a need to take matters into our own hands

3: Trade taking matters into you own hands for taking them on in the power of Christ.

What is God’s Spirit speaking into your life today? How must you respond?

We Are One

One Mission

February 26, 2017

Please turn in your Bibles to Matthew 22:36-40 (NIV)

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul

and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law

and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22:37b-40

1: Loving Me, Myself and I

Self-love: a deep longing to diminish personal pain and increase personal happiness

2: Moving From Self-Seeking to Self-Giving

App: make your self-seeking the measure of your self-giving.

3: The Engine of Love: Love God

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with

all your soul, and with all your mind.”

Matthew 22:37

“Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! 38 Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.”

John 7: 37b-38

App: Let all of your longing be satisfied in Him.

Two Thoughts in Closing

1: What’s love? (Agapeo) Charity: undefeatable benevolence; unconquerable goodwill that always seeks the highest good of the other person no matter what. It’s a self-giving: freely pouring out without asking anything in return. It never measures the worth of the recipient. It’s not a feeling; it’s the will to love

2: Who’s my neighbor? See John 3:16-21, Luke 9:11-13

What is God’s Spirit speaking into your life today? How must you respond?