Before we were saved, many of us lived our lives not even knowing we were lost and in need of saving. If we don't know we need Jesus, we won't be open to receive Him. It is His leading that leads us to transformation. Parenthood is like a snapshot of how God feels about us - He will stop at nothing to draw us to Himself. There are two kinds of lost people: those who are lost but don't realize they are and those who know they are lost but don't know how to be found. God seeks us out, but it is still our choice to accept Him, because it can't be love if it isn't a choice. When we fully comprehend the lengths God has gone to to save us, we can't help but respond. Acts 2:37-41 shows us Peter telling the people what they need to do and it hasn't changed: repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit. God is available and wants to save everyone, but we still have to choose and we need Jesus to open our hearts and minds to Himself. This brings us to the unpardonable sin, which is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. This isn't a one time thing. This is a lifestyle of repeatedly rejecting Jesus once you have shared in the Holy Spirit and experienced things of Heaven. God will keep trying until the point of no return when He allows us to have our way. We never stop being His children! We cannot lose our salvation because we can't earn it - it is a gift! We have all been hurt by the church, so let's all join to help build a better church!

Reference verses: Acts 2:37-41; 1 Timothy 2:1-7; Romans 10:9-10; John 6:44; Mark 3:28-30; Hebrews 6:4-6; Ephesians 2:8-9; Hebrews 10:11-14; Deuteronomy 31:6; Revelation 3:20

Amen!

The main part of church isn't the sermon, it is the highlight of meeting and spending time with the Father. We get in trouble when we worry about the wrong things because God's plan is much more robust than our small vision. Do we really want to know our purpose? We ask God what He wants us to do, but when we don't like what He says, we keep looking. In Ephesians 1:7-14, God shows us our purpose. We must fully understand what He did for us to understand our purpose and know we can never repay it, but accept the freedom He gives. We should grow in wisdom and understanding because He gives it to us. A crucial part of understanding our purpose is living inside God's plan. His plan works through the local church - through our involvement and releasing ourselves to His plan. God works it all out according to His purpose, not when we do what we want and assume He will work it out. He is available to all, but we must choose to believe. He leaves the Holy Spirit inside of us as an inheritance and redeems us to His glory. Our purpose begins in Mark 16:15-16 - to go into the world and preach the Gospel. To see results, we must do what He instructs us to do. Matthew 16:25 reminds us we have to be willing to give up our lives for God's Will. Sandbox is about Acts 2:42-47: we live this out with God's help. Our purpose is wrapped up in our local church and we make time in our lives for our church family, reorienting our lives to live out that purpose.

Amen!

In 2 Samuel 23:10, we see Eleazar standing alone to fight when everyone has left. Are we willing to fight alone? What will it take to move us from what God says we are? We must be people who will stand on God's Word when everything else has fallen away. 1 Peter 1:18-20 says God chose Jesus to be the sacrifice before He created the world, yet Paul told Timothy to pray for the leaders so there would be peace. This shows us that God's Will still requires us to act on it! If you believe it is all up to God's Will and what we do won't make a difference, it will affect your theology. You can't pray with full faith for healing and deliverance if you believe that sickness and evil come from God. God does not want anyone to perish, but scripture tells us the path to destruction is wide and that to righteousness is narrow - so we must choose which path we will take. Any conviction we feel comes from God knocking at the door of our hearts, but we still have to let Him in. God called us when He chose us, but we must ask ourselves: how are we responding to His calling and His gifting to us? We have a great responsibility as His chosen ones to step out in faith! Some may battle self-doubt, not really believing He chose us, but if we will believe, we will no longer fight those feelings of inadequacy and can rest assured there is nothing we can do to return to what we were before Christ. Let's ask ourselves what people see about Jesus from watching our lives and what entanglements we are allowing to keep us from moving forward.

Reference verses:

2 Samuel 23:10; 1 Peter 1:18-20; James 1:13-15; Genesis 2:16-17; Deuteronomy 30:19; Colossians 2:13-14; John 6:44; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; John 3:16-17; Acts 2:38-39; Matthew 9:37-38; Romans 10:14-15; Mark 16:15-16

Amen!

We must combat the tradition in Christianity to believe we are growing because we are gaining knowledge. That is only part of it - we must apply what we learn. Think about all the sermons you have heard and ask yourself what fruit has come of them. James 1:22 tells us to be doers, not hearers who deceive themselves. What is the single greatest pursuit or purpose of your life? It should be a relationship with our Lord because that is what Jesus came to do - to restore us to the type of intimate relationship Adam and Eve had with God before the Fall. Where is the evidence in your life of your faith or have you been hiding in the trees? Too many Christians are waiting for God to kick them out, but He never will! We can't truly follow Him if we don't believe He always does what is best for us and He doesn't bring evil into our lives - only one does that. We must know who we are in Jesus to implement what He tells us to do, or else we will make excuses when we haven't claimed our identity in Him. Every letter Paul wrote had a purpose - a call to action - and he could not be knocked off course because he knew what he was called to - read Ephesians 1:1. So why are we following just some of Christ? We are selective in what we follow and we end up off course, so we must realize we need and ask Christ for His help to change. We can only gain the fruits of the spirit in Galatians 5:22-24 with His help! Unless we are different, the world will never see Jesus in us, so we must do the Psalm 139:23-24 inspection of ourselves with God regularly. Ephesians 1:3 reminds us everything is because of Christ - all blessings come only from being united with Him. To implement this, we must be obedient to Him above what we may like, want, or choose for ourselves and trust Him with our whole lives.

Amen!

When we receive a word from someone, even if they are a believer, we still should test it against God's Word. 2 Corinthians 2:4 reminds us that we should speak out of love when we have a healthy burden on our hearts for a fellow Christian. In last week's message, Brent compared us a bit to the Pharisees. That can be hard to hear, but said in love, it should open our eyes to look at where we may be falling short and test that against God's Word. It is easy to react in our flesh when something happens that we don't like, but as a Christian, we are called to respond in a way informed by our faith. It's not really an option for us to do otherwise because a Christian is who we are, not just something we do. When we become a Christian, it's no longer our right to react in our flesh! So often, we say it's hard, but the reality is it isn't hard, it's just unfamiliar territory. When we are born, we don't know how to do everything, we have to learn skills and knowledge, so similarly, we just need to learn how to walk in our faith.

When we look at Acts 2, it is clear that God expected the Christian life to be a 4-D experience. It is active and engaged, not passive like the modern church has become, where we just get an education that we don't apply. We mock the Pharisees but we become like them when we focus on being perfect on the outside and turn lifeless on the inside. If our foundation is not on the Word, but is on being at the "right" church or other worldly things, we can't be authentic and weather the storms that will come. James 1:27 reminds us to look after orphans and widows and keep ourselves from being polluted by the world. Are we on the lookout for spiritual pollution of our souls? Have we, as a church, become polluted by the world or are we pushing back against it? How will we know? The Bible is our mirror - if we lay our lives against it, it shows us the answer to those questions.

When we talk about giving in the church today, there are many misconceptions. Sometimes people can take the Word and beat people with it on the subject of giving, making it a purely legalistic endeavor. The sermon on the Mount talks about all the ways we are blessed by flipping the idea of blessings on their head. All the ways the world considers someone not blessed, Jesus says we are. The poor in spirit have the kingdom of Heaven. Those who mourn will be comforted. The merciful will be shown mercy. The pure in heart will see God. All of these things show the people had a heart issue - and so do we. Our giving is tied directly to the state of our hearts. Matthew 6:1-4 tells us not to give in order to be seen or to be recognized. It is easy to develop a sort of spiritual pride about how we give of our finances, our time, and how we use our talents for the church when we keep track of our giving in these areas and compare to others. If we are giving to fulfill a need in our hearts for recognition from others or from pride, we need to reevaluate our motivation and take it to God. Our choices are earthy rewards or heavenly rewards, so we should ask ourselves - which one do we want? We can't have both - it's a choice to be recognized on earth or in Heaven. We need to develop a passion for giving and not for the recognition that it brings. The flip side of this is that we are also called to show our works so others can see them and glorify God - as in Matthew 5:15-16. If we keep quiet, how can we give an account? It doesn't have to be this way - we don't have to keep our giving a secret but also shouldn't brag. A good way to think about it is if someone were to take a peek into your life, they will see how you give. It's not seeking praise for ourselves, but being faithful. Hebrews 10:19-20; 23-24 reminds us we have confidence because of the blood of Jesus and we should spur one another toward love and good deeds. We can only do this by giving an account of what He has done in our lives and sharing how He has changed us. In Luke 17, we see the story of the ten lepers who are healed, but only one returns to thank and praise Jesus. It is important when we receive that we be open and tell others how God has worked in our lives so that we give Him the praise He deserves. James 2:14-26 talks about the perceived battle between faith and works. The church culture today is so caught up in works that we can forget the faith in Jesus that should drive those works or it's so caught up in grace that we don't think we have to do anything. Jesus's heart was for us to testify about our faith and how others' works have impacted us. Abraham gave us one of the first examples of faith and works. He walked in faith for years after God promised him offspring, but then was willing to give up his precious son when God asked - walking out his faith. Let's not get caught up in legalism! Revelation 3 is the letter to the church at Philadelphia. Although John tells them he has found little wrong with what they are doing, he still exhorts them that there is work to be done. We can't rest on our faith and not work out our salvation. How we give is a picture of that process. The world doesn't want us to give joyfully when we are facing tribulations. They want us to be quiet and not share our testimony. We don't have the time to waffle over this and allow Satan to use our giving and church culture as a self-rebuke. Our giving should be an overpouring of what God has given us - whether it is finances or time - not in a prideful way, but in obedience and gratitude.

Amen!

Jamian: We often have confidence, but we don't trust ourselves. We have all the tools we need to beat whatever we are facing with God. Trust in yourself through Him! John 3:16 tells us about God's love for the world. It's the foundation of Christianity, but what is your foundation, your why? Why are you a Christian? Is it just so you can go to heaven? What does your salvation save you from? Sometimes if we have been Christians for a long time, we get the idea that we don't have anything else for God to save us from, but this simply isn't true. Galatians 5:13 reminds us we were called to freedom. We seem to have a lot of "buts" - excuses why we aren't free. But I went through this challenge or that one - when we need to leave the big "buts" for what God did and does to redeem us from those situations. Ask yourself if your life inspires others to be free. If it doesn't, then you may not be as free as you think. Write down what it is that you still need freedom from in your life - to help you see yourself walking free from it! Galatians 5:14 tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves, but you can't love others if you don't love yourself. Remember the circumstances of your past and let them propel you, but don't allow them to define you. You are no longer a slave - so don't identify as one! We don't get to choose what we are dealt in life, but we do get to choose how we will play or not. Choose your weapons wisely!

Brent: Sometimes our comfort can hold us back. Struggle gives us an opportunity to grow in a way we wouldn't otherwise. We have this misconception that life should be fair, but nowhere in the Bible does it say life is fair. If you have to push against something or someone stronger than you, like in physical training, eventually you will grow stronger. We have become a nation of the scared, not the brave. We are so risk averse, but the Bible tells us we will be persecuted. Christians should be the toughest people on the planet! In church today, people are too easily offended and worried about what everyone else thinks. If we know who we are in God, it doesn't matter. Nothing can stop God's plan and purpose for our lives if we are living in His will. Why do we think we deserve anything? No one owes us anything! The world is set up to drag us back into slavery at every turn - that's why Galatians 5:1 reminds us not to fall into slavery AGAIN. We have to choose not to submit to it! Matthew 16:21-28 tells the story of Jesus predicting his death and Peter tried to rebuke him. But if we want to live for Jesus, we have to be willing to give up everything. We must be willing to give up what we think we should have. This is not our final destination! If we are truly walking in freedom, we will be willing to lay down our lives to further His purpose. Are you really ready to be free?!

Amen!

We've just wrapped up the freedom series, and we talked about the choice of being free from the prison of our sins and shame. Once we have made that decision to give up our chains, what are we to do next? A look at Philippians 2:12-17 gives us a good guide. We are saved by faith, but we still have to do something with it. Verse 12 tells us "continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling". This fear is reverence and respect for God. Much like a car, we have to keep doing maintenance on our faith. We will get dirty as we go through life, so we have to do maintenance to keep our faith strong and to be obedient to God. It's not just a one time thing when we accept Jesus. Verse 13 talks about the will - how God works in us so that we do what he has purposed for us to do. As we walk with Jesus, we will feel an urgency to do what God tells us to do. Like a thermostat that is wired above to the air conditioner, we are wired to God. When you turn the thermostat up or down, the machine will adjust. In the same way, if we are wired to God above through prayer, we can change our surroundings. When we get our will in alignment with His, we can change the environment. Verse 14 can be hard because it tells us to everything without grumbling or arguing - not some things, everything. It's not always easy to do! Things frustrate us and we react in a way we don't want to. We should do things in joy, but why? Verse 15 tells us! We will become blameless in a crooked generation and we will shine. Our witness will be God's light shining through us in the darkness. People will notice something different about us if we react in peace and kindness when others react harshly or in anger. Verse 16 reminds us to hold firmly to the word of life - that is Jesus. As we live for Jesus, we will be able to witness that our lives are changed because of Him. We are reminded in verse 17 that there will be things we will have to sacrifice to serve Jesus. It is like exercising. If you go to the gym but don't do anything, you won't see results. If you just come to church, but don't engage and don't exercise your faith on other days, it won't matter. What we feed our spirits - our spiritual food - will come out. Be sure you are putting in good food! As we serve God, we must remember that eventually, we will be persecuted, whether it is being the odd one at work or people saying you are wrong in your beliefs because they don't match current day culture. Remember that the Word needs to change the culture - not the culture changing the word to suit it. Equip yourself by putting on the full armor of God like Ephesians 6 tells us so that after you have done everything, you can stand. Keep up the good work!

Amen!

In today's culture, it seems like attendance is enough. It doesn't matter if you truly participate, as long as you are there. As we end our Freedom series, let's not make the mistake of thinking that applies here. You can go through this curriculum, not miss a week, and do all the homework, but still not be free. As Christians, we serve the God of the universe, but we can still live in a dungeon in our hearts - one of bitterness, unforgiveness, anger, and resentment. We can't give something we don't have! We are called to go and make disciples, but to what extent can we do so effectively if we are still bound up in our own mess? In order to get free and stay free, it takes a commitment, like Galatians 5:1 tells us, "don't be burdened AGAIN" - it is an ongoing process. Like a garden, we have to choose what is going to go into our soil. What is going to be the main feature? We have to tend it, pull weeds, and prune it for the desirable plants to grow. It is the same with our lives and our thoughts. If we want to be free from bitterness, self-hatred, anger, etcetera, we must choose to uproot those things. Jesus has done all the work that needs to be done for us to be free by dying on the cross for us, but we still have to choose to accept the freedom He offers. Ask yourself: What am I allowing to set the standard in my life? Is it television, social media, the opinions of others, or is it God's Word? Do I allow other things to influence my expectation of God and what He is going to do? If others attribute evil things to God (i.e. How can God let bad things happen?), do we listen to them or to His Word? Psalm 119:105 tells us His word is a lamp for our feet and a light on our paths. 2 Corinthians 5:7 reminds us to live by faith, not by sight. These verses remind us how we are to perceive God. We must let His Word set the standard for our lives and our expectations.

How should we go about our daily lives to walk in the freedom He has provided? 1) Put on the armor of God. Ephesians 6:11-17 tells us about that armor. It doesn't say "if" the devil will attack us, it says "when". We must be equipped for it! 2) Worship the King. When we praise Him, we focus on Him and not on the things going on around us. 3) Continually be in prayer, as in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22. We need to remember prayer is not just talking, but also listening for His voice. 4) Be accountable and maintain right relationships. James 5:16 reminds us to confess our sins to each other and pray for each other. The world tells us to keep our junk to ourselves, but we must confess it in order to be forgiven and healed from it! 2 Corinthians 6:14 tells us not to be yoked with unbelievers. This doesn't mean you can't have unsaved friends, but it does mean that the people who you allow to speak into your life in the deepest ways need to be believers. 5) Resist the enemy and he will flee from you - James 4:7 6) Take inventory and make changes. We must change our fleshly habits. If we don't fully take off our old selves, how can we put the new one on? Are you ready to walk in freedom?!

Amen!