Exodus 3:1-4:17 (NIV)

3:11: But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

3:13: Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

4:1: Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

4:10: Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

4:13: But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

Matthew 6:5-15 NIV

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Matthew 16:21-28 (NIV)

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Manis going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

“Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

1) Embracing the call to be part of something bigger than ourselves. v.21

2) Discerning the difference between “the things of men” and “the things of God”. vs.22-23

3) Understanding that there is more to success than meets the eye vs.24-26

4) Looking ultimately to Him for affirmation and approval. vs. 27-28

Judges 8:1-3 (NIV)

Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon, “Why have you treated us like this? Why didn’t you call us when you went to fight Midian?” And they challenged him vigorously.

But he answered them, “What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren’t the gleanings of Ephraim’s grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer? God gave Oreb and Zeeb, the Midianite leaders, into your hands. What was I able to do compared to you?” At this, their resentment against him subsided.

“Verse 1 – Some translations instead use the phrase” and they criticized him”

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Acts 16:22-34 – further reference

Luke 12:13-21 NIV

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

As a general rule, people who are GREEDY, DON’T THINK of themselves as greedy, but prudent.

Greed is not a financial issue; it’s a heart issue! It affects you, your relationships and your walk with God.

Key question to examine your heart:

When I get paid, do I feel that this money is for me and what I want; or do I see it as an opportunity to leverage some of it to help others and then save and live on the rest?

The man’s problem:

1. He sees his success as his OWN ACCOMPLISHMENT.

2. He has no PLAN to SHARE.

Verse 20 – “God said to him, you fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”

Answer: SOMEBODY ELSE!

Being rich toward God is investing in things that matter to God:

1. The LEAST of these.

2. KINGDOM WORK.

How do I break the hold of greed? GENEROSITY

Make it practical.

1. PLANNED

2. SPONTANEOUS

Exodus 17:8-13 (NIV)

The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”

So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up-one on one side, one on the other-so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

Matthew 16:17-18 NIV

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

Acts 1:6-8 NIV

Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 2:22-24 NIV

“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

Acts 2:32-33 NIV

God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.

Acts 2:36-41 NIV

“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 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. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

The church was launched to be a movement that would become global and would move from generation to generation until the return of Christ.

1. CHILDREN’S ENVIRONMENT.

2. Investing in STAFF CULTURE.

3. FOOTPRINT OF COMPASSION.

4. MULTI-SITE CAMPUS.

5. SMALL GROUPS.

We need you to be bold in 4 areas:

1. INVITING

2. VOLUNTEERING

3. GIVING

4. PRAYING

Credit/Resources:

Stop Dating the Church by Josh Harris

Big Church by Andy Stanley

Membership by Thomas Rainer

- See more at: http://victoryhighway.com/2015/06/jesus-and-we/#sthash.YGtKbv9p.dpuf