1. The Bible is the most powerful book.

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my Word will never pass away.”

2. The Bible is power for your life.

The Bible is power for when you’ve been hurt. (Ephesians 4:31-32)

The Bible is power for family relationships (Ephesians 6:1-4)

The Bible is power over anxiety (Philippians 4:6-7)

The Bible is power for your job/school (Colossians 3:23-24)

3. The Bible is alive.

All Scripture is inspired and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.

4. The Bible has the power of salvation.

But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

My Word will not return to Me void (useless, without result), Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

Recent headlines and statistics are not encouraging. There are more than 72 Million Millennials in America, almost one-quarter of our population. An increasingly large portion of the Millennials are walking away from a faith of any kind, choosing to identify themselves as religious ‘nones.’ Researchers in 2008 noted that one third of all Millennials describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated. Ten years later that number had grown to 42%. More trouble: Church numbers in America have suffered a decades-long decline. Gallop first measured church membership in America in 1937. It was 73%. In the 1980’s it was 70%. In 2000 65%. By 2010 it was 59%. Today, less than half of Americans 47% are part of a church. Falling away from the Church or falling away from the faith is serious but it is a deeper reflection of people falling away from Jesus.

I. What does this mean?

2 Thessalonians 2:1-3

This is a prophecy about tomorrow that may have implications for today. This falling away Paul is referring is more than a gradual defection from the Church. He calls it “The Falling Away.”

Don’t panic. We may be seeing the beginning of the great falling away but not the full effect of the tribulation. Therefore, we still have time to work!

II. How could people fall away?

a. Some people fall away because they are deceived.

I Timothy 4:1-2

b. Some people fall away because they are disillusioned.

Luke 8:5-8; 12-13

c. Some fall away because they are distracted.

Luke 8:14-15

III. Where do we go from here?

a. Examine yourselves

II Corinthians 13:5; Matthew 7:21-23

b. Encourage yourselves

I Samuel 30:6

c. Exercise yourselves

I Timothy 4:7-8; Revelation 2:4-5; Jude 24-25

“It's okay if you don't deconstruct your faith! Practice subversion. Practice resistance. Go to church. Go to Sunday school. Go to youth group and pot-luck and feel free to not apologize for it. Read the Bible even if you don't understand it. Read the Bible and come alive. Give money. Give time. Feel free to not deconstruct. Feel free to not have a crisis of faith. I mean, it's okay if you do have a crisis of faith but feel free not to manufacture one. Doubt is normal but it's not as normal as faith. We are hard-wired to believe. Don't fetishize your doubts. Of course, life is full of crises which seem to contradict God's existence. I do not care. The abyss does not scare me. It is fair to critique the inadequacies of mental assent but go ahead, go on up that mountain of belief. Christ isn’t at the top. He is the mountain and it will feel like at times he is resisting you but you'll soon see that the obstacles he allows are simply the places where you will discover the truth of your testimony. Resist the pressure to start a new religion. Resist the pressure to buy someone else's new piecemeal religion. Don't do drugs. Stay married if you can. Resist graceless religious fervor. Conform to the image of Christ. Take seriously Matthew 5, 6 and 7. Take these teachings into your heart and live your whole life by them. You are the salt of the earth.”

Jeremiah 1:4-9, 17-19

1. The Task is Too Demanding

The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

2. My Talent is Inadequate

“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

"Then the LORD reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and told me: I have now filled your mouth with My words"

Always let your inadequacy make you dependent on God's all-sufficiency!

3. It’s Not a Good Time

"Then the LORD said to me: Do not say, ‘I am only a youth,' for you will go to everyone I send you to and speak whatever I tell you. Do not be afraid of anyone, for I will be with you to deliver you. This is the LORD's declaration"

“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

"Do not be afraid of anyone, for I will be with you to deliver you. This is the LORD's declaration"

4. Surely Someone Else Will Go

God said, "Now, get ready. Stand up and tell them everything that I command you…"

“…Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them.”

Matthew 28:18-20

OUR MISSION: (Why we exist)

Know Jesus

Grow in relationship with Jesus

Go making Jesus known to others

OUR VISION: (What we are going to do together)

Win the lost

Outreach to each unique generation

Relevant worship

Strategic missions

Home groups

Impacting the Church

Practical ministry

1. The Gospel is to be shared.

John 3:16; Mathew 28:18-20

2. Tell someone: Close the deal. Be prepared to lead a prayer of salvation.

3. Be ready to follow up after the conversation.

II Corinthians 11:24-29

“Faith ought not be a puny thing. If you believe, have faith like a giant. And may God not grant you peace, but glory.”

Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds…Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”

Glory looks like sacrifice. It looks like paying a price. It looks like dying for something you believe in. It looks like being willing to suffer for the glory of God by bringing His grace into this world.

How did the first century Church, this group of nobodies, no clout, no power, no status, no social or political connections…how did they overcome, conquer and transform their culture? They did it by living the way that Jesus lived, by loving and serving in the way of Jesus. And when they were persecuted and executed, they did it by dying the way that Jesus did.

It’s going to be hard to minister to this culture in a way that matters. It’s going to be hard to sort the cultural, political and generational landscape. It’s going to be hard to stay faithful, stay committed, stay focused. But that’s okay because we have not been called to easy, safe or comfortable. We have been called to glory!

You and I have difficult things to do but that’s okay, because remember this, “Faith ought not be a puny thing. If you believe, have faith like a giant. And may God not grant you peace, but glory.”

John 15:5-17

1. Complete your joy: remain in Jesus

Something in us dies when we disconnect from Jesus.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

2. Complete your joy: love like Jesus

Jesus invites you to care about what He cares about. Expect His compassion for people who don’t know Him to grow in your heart.

3. Complete your joy: pray like Jesus

Praying in Jesus’ name is praying what Jesus wants.

Sign up for The Story Prayer Guide at the Welcome Center or send an email to [email protected]

Participate in The Story 5/5/5 Prayer: pray for 5 people, 5 min/day, for 5 weeks, and invite them to experience The Story with you.

The Story books are for sale in the lobby: $20 for a bundle of 4

Luke 6:20-22; 36-38

“MAKARIOS” = Happy, fortunate, to be envied

True happiness happens when I realize that God is more concerned with my holiness, than my happiness.

Take the focus off yourself.

Listen to the Holy Spirit.

True happiness happens when I live an open-handed and generous life.

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

True happiness happens when understand the measure of God’s love for me.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Nehemiah 8:1-12

1. The joy of the Lord is your strength / Happy isn’t enough

Happy is something that happens to you.

Joy is something that comes out of you.

2. The joy of the Lord is your strength / Force your focus on God

3. The joy of the Lord is your strength / Your passion determines your power

The purpose of spiritual disciplines (prayer, Bible reading, meditation, fasting, fellowship, service, generosity) are to strengthen your joy in the Lord.

What do you want? What do you really want?

John 15:26-John 16:11

Work of the Holy Spirit

1. Conviction: The “Convictor” of sin in ourselves and others.

a. Small voice that says, “Go this way.” (John 14:25-27)

b. We can “speak the truth in love” but we can’t ultimately do the work of changing someone’s heart and mind. (Ephesians 4:11-17)

2. Righteousness Revealed: Making clear God’s Way of Salvation and Life.

a. Jesus’ death and coming resurrection. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

b. The old self being put to death and made new. (2 Corinthians 5:14-20)

c. Empowered by the Holy Spirit to live Holy (separate) (Titus 2:11-14, Ephesians 4:20-5:20)

i. Whisper (Promptings) of God’s Voice, Gut feeling, Audible Guidance

ii. Hunger for God’s Way (Psalm 34:8-9)

3. Judgement Pardoned: Through the completed work of Jesus our sins are forgiven and through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit we live “pardoned” lives.

Jesus’ work is complete (Romans 3:22-24)

Faith in Christ gives pardon from eternal death (Romans 3:25-26)

Grace from the Holy Spirit to live Holy. (Ephesians 2:3-10)

God’s grace for God’s assignment (Ephesians 2:3-10)

4. Unity Through Christ with One Another: The Holy Spirit Empowers Believers to live in Unity (John 17:20-24)

a. Unity in Christ is greater than unity in Policy or Politics

i. The order matters! Confusion comes when our primary motivators are different.

b. How do we interpret these cultural moments? The Wesleyan Quadrilateral

i. Scripture

ii. Church History

iii. Reason

iv. Experience

c. Unity around Christ shows the world the love for which Christ was sent.

A life bent towards God is marked by surrendering to the voice and activity of the Holy Spirit.

John 14-15

Three types of Obedience Empower by the Holy Spirit:

1. Fear of the Lord

a. Pharoah after the plagues and repeated requests to let God’s people God. (Exodus 12:31)

b. Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar after the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. (Daniel 3:26-29)

c. Ezra after returning from Babylon and teaching the Torah. (Ezra 7-10)

d. Proverbs 1: Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. (Proverbs 1:1-7)

2. Duty to the Lord

a. Temple Worship in the Old Testament (Exodus 25-27)

b. Zerubbabel rebuilding the temple after exile in Babylon (Ezra 1-6)

Weak love is still genuine love. Our love isn’t just real love when it is mature. Our love is real when it begins.

3. Love of the Lord

a. Four times in John 14 Jesus says, “If you love me, you will obey me.” (John 14:1-24)

Obedience Rooted in Love of the Lord

1. Empowered by the Holy Spirit (John 14:25-27)

a. God Promises to Empower us for Loving Him (John 14:25-31)

2. Submit to the pruning of the Holy Spirit

a. Every branch gets prunes…even the ones bearing fruit (John 1:1-4)

b. Take on and Take off: Your life following Jesus should look differently through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 4:17-5:20)

3. Stay sensitive (bent) towards the nudge of God (Ephesians 4:17-20)

a. I love you Jesus, show me more. (John 15:5-17)