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Weekly sermons from our Pastor, Barry Wilkinson.
Episodes
Sunday Aug 11, 2019
Sunday Aug 11, 2019
Series: Christ Through Me
Sermon: Any Old Bush Will Do
Scripture: Philippians 2:12-14
Date: August 4, 2019
LAST WEEK'S WEEKLY GROWTH SUGGESTION: Read chapter 4 in "The Saving Life of Christ" twice this week. Talk to God about bringing you into the fullness of the Spirit. Ask yourself if you really want God's fullness enough to surrender to His control.
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing. (Philippians 2:12-14)
"Are you man-conscious or God-conscious?" -Ian Thomas
Exodus 2:12
Let's see three truths that will enable us to be used by God:
- Hindrance
- Today I want us to see a couple of specific hindrances to being used with God:
- self-confidence
- "We're so sub-normal, if we ever became normal, they (the world and probably a lot of Christians) will think we're abnormal." -Leonard Ravenhill
- It's not your ability to but your availability that matters most to God.
- "They were simply people who had qualified in the school of failure and despair." -Ian Thomas
- "When I am in control of my life I leave damage in my wake. When God is in control of my life, I leave blessing in my wake." -Kay Warren
- fear
- "Any old bush will do." -Ian Thomas
- Phil. 2:13
- self-confidence
- Today I want us to see a couple of specific hindrances to being used with God:
- Help
- Phil. 2:13
- Acts 4:30
- "Did you ever come to the place where you presented yourself for what you are - nothing - to be filled with what He is - everything - and to step into every new day, conscious that the eternal I AM is all you need, for all His will?" -Ian Thomas
- Hope
- "If you are born again, all you need is what you have, and what you have is what He is! He does not give you strength, He is your strength! He does not give you victory - He is your victory." -Ian Thomas
WEEKLY GROWTH SUGGESTION: Read chapter 5 twice in "The Saving Life of Christ." Present yourself for what you are - nothing - to be filled with what He is - everything - and to step into every new day, conscious that the eternal I AM is all you need, for all His will.
Sunday Jul 28, 2019
Sunday Jul 28, 2019
Series: Christ Through Me
Sermon: Brought Out to be Brought In
Scripture: Exodus 13:4-5
Date: July 28, 2019
LAST WEEK'S WEEKLY GROWTH SUGGESTION: Read chapter 3 in "The Saving Life of Christ" twice this week. Think about what it means for you to be the glove and the Holy Spirit to be the hand empowering and controlling you.
On this day you are going out, in the month Abib. And it shall be, when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month. (Exodus 13:4-5)
A huge key is our awareness of who Jesus is and how we respond to Him. What do we believe His intentions are for us?
Part of it is the realization of who you hav in Jesus. Part of it is stopping way short of diving into a deep and loving relationship with Jesus.
God brought them out to bring them in.
Here are three big problems of coming out without going in:
- We celebrate the wrong stuff
- Exodus 16:35, NIV
- Exodus 16:2, NIV
- For them it was a land. For us it is a life.
- Are you more excited about:
- your children's sports accomplishments or grades than their salvation?
- your prosperity or your relationship with Jesus?
- God's love or your vacation?
- worship or the latest popular song?
- your Netflix show more than your Bible?
- your social media more than your prayer life?
- your popularity more than your witnessing?
- We're content with wilderness surviving
- Surthriving
- Deuteronomy 12:7-9
- Let's realize that while God has given us the ability (our free will) to say no to the Spirit's control, we do not have the ability to say no to His control or to experiencing His best for our lives.
- Ian Thomas will challenge us: "What have you been doing since your redemption? Still what is right in your own eyes? Are you sold out for Jesus Christ? Do you still claim the right to choose your own career? You do not have that right! Do you still claim the right to choose the wife or husband you will marry? You do not have that right!"
- Romans 8:14
- Numbers 16:3
- They wanted to go back to what God had delivered them from.
- I would rather look silly for truth than be smug about being lukewarm.
- We're consumed with wrong self-determination
- Let's see how they set the wrong course that kept them from going in:
- What they thought in the wilderness
- Numbers 11:5-6
- "If you do not walk in the power of God the Holy Spirit, if your life is not abandoned to the indwelling sovereignty fo Jesus Christ, then all the promises of victory in the Bible, all the promises of power by the Holy Spirit and of divine vocation will simply be texts, printed on so much paper - impersonal and irrelevant."
- What they said in the wilderness
- Numbers 16:31
- Revival is where people fall more madly and deeply in love with Jesus Christ, not losing their first love but intensifying it more and more. Heaven will come to earth, and lives will be changed.
- What they thought in the wilderness
- Let's see how they set the wrong course that kept them from going in:
WEEKLY CHALLENGE: Read chapter 4 in "The Saving Life of Christ" twice this week. Talk to God about bringing you into the fullness of the Spirit. Ask yourself if you really want God's fullness enough to surrender to His control.
Friday Jul 12, 2019
Friday Jul 12, 2019
Series: Moses - An Unlikely Choice
Sermon: Excuses
Scripture: Exodus 3:10-12
Date: July 7, 2019
Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" So He said, "I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain." (Exodus 3:10-12)
God invites us to join Him in His work.
"Why do we resist such a magnificent God who loves us?" -Charles Swindoll
His plan was Moses. His plan now is you and me, filled with Him.
Let's look at 5 excuses and how God answers them. If your excuse is not here, the answer for it still is...
- I'm not enough
- Exodus 3:11
- The appropriate answer is "Yes, sir! Let's go! Whatever you say, I will do."
- God's answer: Exodus 3:12A
- We need to work with God and not for God.
- I didn't know enough
- Exodus 3:13
- "Someone might ask me a question I don't know the answer to." That is not a valid excuse.
- I think sometimes what's behind this excuse is pride.
- God's answer: Exodus 3:14
- The letters for "I AM WHO I AM" spell out the name Yahweh.
- God is saying that the only self-existent being in the universe has sent you.
- Don't worry that you don't have all the answers. Whenever we say, "I'm not smart enough" or "I'm not capable," He says, "But I AM."
- People won't listen to me
- Exodus 4:1; 3:18a
- God: "Moses when you go, they will listen." Moses: "But what if they don't listen?" And Pharaoh was not going to listen.
- What if?
- Proverbs 26:13
- The "what if's" are not our business. Obeying is our business.
- I am not good with words
- Exodus 4:10, NLT
- Acts 7:22, NIV
- The real issue may not be how well you speak but how much you love Jesus.
- God's answer: Exodus 4:11-12, NIV
- 1 Corinthians 2:1-4, NIV
- Acts 1:8
- I don't want to go
- Exodus 4:13, NIV
- God does not accept excuses; He accepts obedience.
Thursday Jul 11, 2019
Thursday Jul 11, 2019
Series: Christ Through Me
Sermon: Who's Living My Life
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
Date: July 7, 2019
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)
Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, NLT)
"He himself is the very dynamic (power, energy, supply) of all his demands." -Major Ian Thomas
Philippians 1:6; 2:13-14
Let's dive in and see how to let God do in us what He promises to do:
- Predicament
- Your response to Jesus Christ will determine our condition in the sight of God: redeemed or condemned
- Romans 10:9-10:13
- "The One who calls you to minister to the needs of humanity is the One who by your consent ministers to the needs of humanity through you." -Major Ian Thomas
- "If you will but trust Christ, not only for the death He died in order to redeem you, but also for the life that He lives and wants to live through you, the very next step you take will be a step take in the very energy and power of God Himself." -Major Ian Thomas
- You will be the human vehicle of divine life.
- Pattern
- Now if it is true that the Lord Jesus will live His life through you on earth today, as He lived His life once in His own body on earth more than 1900 years ago, it is both interesting and necessary to discover how He lived then so that you may know how He will live through you now.
- John 5:19, NLT
- "Jesus Christ, as man, lived in total, unquestioning dependence upon the Father." -Major Ian Thomas
- He humbled Himself - set aside His divine prerogatives and walked this earth as man - a perfect demonstration of what God intended man to be - the whole personality yielded to and occupied by God for Himself.
- "He lived in unbroken dependence upon the Father, taking no step except in recognition of the fact that apart from the Father, He could do nothing, so He calls upon you to live in the same total dependence upon Him." -Major Ian Thomas
- John 15:5
- Colossians 2:9-10, NLT
- Romans 1:17c
- "Relate everything, moment by moment as it arises, to the adequacy of what He is in you, and assume that His adequacy will be operative (working)." -Major Ian Thomas
- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, 24
- Power
- We can trust His power is working when we choose to live in total, unquestioning dependence upon the Spirit as Jesus did upon the Father.
- When we fail, we need to confess our sin - especially the part of it that has something to do with not living in total, unquestioning dependence upon the Spirit - and ask Jesus to take back the throne of our lives.
- "The One who calls you to a life of righteousness is the One, who by your consent, will manifest that life of righteousness through you!" -Major Ian Thomas
- To be in Christ - that makes you fit for heaven; but for Christ to be in you - that makes you fit for earth.
- "You see, for seven years, with utmost sincerity, you have been trying to live for Me, on My behalf, the life that I have been waiting for seven years to live through you." -Major Ian Thomas
WEEKLY CHALLENGE: Read chapter 1 in "The Saving Life of Christ" twice. Relate everything, moment by moment as it arises, to the adequacy of what He is in you, and assume that His adequacy will be enough.
I thank You that You are risen from the dead, that at this very moment You indwell me in the person and power of Your divine Spirit; that You have never expected of me anything but failure, yet You have given to me Your strength for my weakness; Your victory for my defeat, Yourself for all my bankruptcy! I step out now, by faith, into a future that is limited only by what You are.
Sunday Jun 23, 2019
Sunday Jun 23, 2019
Series: Quit Quitting
Sermon: The Confidence to Keep Going
Scripture: Hebrews 10:32-39
Date: June 23, 2019
LAST WEEK'S WEEKLY GROWTH SUGGESTION: What is the biggest "next step" for you? Ask God to show you the biggest thing you need to start, or keep, doing.
But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: early while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: "For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him." But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. (Hebrews 10:32-39)
Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever. (Hebrews 10:32-34, NLT)
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. (Hebrews 10:35, NIV)
Here are three words to help us keep our confidence in Jesus and not quit:
- REMEMBER
- "In other words, 'You can haul away our widescreen TVs and expensive golf clubs. What you can't take from us are our riches in Christ. You can beat us, even kill us, but you can't take away our eternal life. Christ is superior.'" -Kyle Idleman
- What do we remember?
- We remember what Jesus did for us
- We remember what it is like to be right with God.
- RESOLVE
- Rev. Anthony Thompson lost his wife in the Charleston shooting. He responded to criticism about his forgiving the shooter: "I didn't let Dylan off the hook. Dylan is in prison. But I am free."
- "I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed." -Booker T. Washington
- REWARD
WEEKLY GROWTH SUGGESTION: Get alone with Jesus and thank Him for not quitting on You, and the Him that, by His grace, you will never quit on Him.
Wednesday Jun 19, 2019
Wednesday Jun 19, 2019
Series: Quit Quitting
Sermon: Take the Next Step
Scripture: Galatians 6:9
Date: June 16, 2019
LAST WEEK'S WEEKLY GROWTH SUGGESTION: What is something that God wants you to take some action steps toward that will help you make some progress?
And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. (Galatians 6:9)
Here are three words to help us take the next step in our relationship with Jesus:
- Increase
- Implement
- It is your actions - not your intentions - that determine your life.
- Luke 9:23
- Galatians 6:8-9
- A couple of helps to move from good intentions to godly actions: grow good habits; just show up
- Inquire
WEEKLY GROWTH SUGGESTION: What is the biggest "next step" for you? Ask God to show you the biggest thing you need to start or to keep doing.
Wednesday Jun 05, 2019
Wednesday Jun 05, 2019
Series: Moses - An Unlikely Choice
Sermon: Growing in the Wilderness
Scripture: Exodus 3:1
Date: June 2, 2019
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back fo the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. (Exodus 3:1)
What advice would you give to someone who wants to grow in their relationship with the Lord?
To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; (Ecclesiastes 3:1-4)
God is able to use all the seasons of life for His glory and for our good.
One of the keys to life with Jesus is to surrender each season to Him for His purposes.
The word Horeb means dry or dried up, that is, "dry," "desert." It was the general name for the mountainous district in which Sinai is situated, and of which it is a part.
The wilderness season for us may be:
- caring for aging parents for a long time with little or no help
- stubborn physical ailment that seems like it will never go away
- soul-ache from a rebellious child or unfaithful spouse
- moving to a new place, job, or school
- the loss of a good friend
- a thankless job
Here are 4 things we can trust God for in the wilderness or dry seasons:
- Growth is taking place that you cannot see
- Remember this: when Moses felt qualified, he was not, and when he felt unqualified, he was.
- Deuteronomy 8:2
- It will reveal some things that cannot be revealed any other way: pride, dependency on feelings, too much desire to be noticed, serving God for the results.
- God's purpose is never to ruin but always to refine.
- When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie/My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply./The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design/thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine. ("How Firm a Foundation")
- There is no such thing as instant growth. You can't microwave maturity.
- God is there when you cannot feel Him
- "You know that feeling when God is right there,e this close, and you can just feel His loving arms around you, and you can literally hear His voice whispering in your ear, telling you how much He love you? I don't. I never have." -Brant Hansen
- "Our feelings have nothing to do with whether God loves us or is still involved in our lives." -Brant Hansen
- "There is no basis in Scripture for the idea that if God is still involved with you, you'll have good feelings. Unless, that is, your actual god is your good feelings." -Brant Hansen
- "I'm here 1) by God's appointment; 2) in His time; 3) under His training; 4) for His time." -Raymond Edman
- "Small disciplines done consistently lead to big results over time." -Craig Goeschel
- Psalm 16:7-8
- God sees when nobody else does
- In the wilderness, we learn that God sees when nobody else does, and, hopefully, we learn that that is enough.
- Deuteronomy 3:10-11
- God is not wasting time even though you may feel like it
- Moses calls Horeb the "mountain of God' by anticipation, with reference to the manifestation of God.
- Exodus 24:15-17
Sunday Jun 02, 2019
Sunday Jun 02, 2019
Series: Quit Quitting
Sermon: Throwing Off Dead Religion
Scripture: Matthew 23:5a, 23-28
Date: June 2, 2019
LAST WEEK'S WEEKLY GROWTH SUGGESTION: Ask God to show you any area of unbelief and trust God to untangle you.
But all their works they do to be seen by men. (Matthew 23:5a)
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside fo the cup and dish, but inside they are full fo extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. (Matthew 23:23-28)
If we get more caught up in a religion, church, or denomination than we do Jesus, we will be tempted to quit.
When I say "religion" today, I'm talking about dead religion: a system that emphasizes rules, rituals, and regulations as a way to earn God's favor.
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race (marathon) that is set before us. (Hebrews 12:1)
"There is always a danger that in our worship we would simply focus on the motions, but our hearts would not be in it. There is a danger that would follow the rules, do everything right, but not be right in our hearts." -Kyle Idleman
Here's three helpful ways to make sure we are living with God and not simply dead religion:
- Let's value relationship over rules
- Let's value purpose over performance
- "The law got one thing done: it dramatically played out the futility of our trying to please God. But Jesus offers His work of perfection as our own." -Kyle Idleman
- A major theme of Hebrews is the superiority of Christ: He is better.
- The purpose is that we help each other see that Jesus is better.
- I'll grow frustrated
- I'll feel exhausted
- I'll fake it till I can't fake it anymore
- Matthew 23:5a
- I'll end up conceited or defeated
- Matthew 23:27
- Let's value helping over hindering
- What helps?
- When I'm growing in my love for Jesus and others
- When I am worshipping from my heart
- "The music must not turn the church into an audience enjoying the music but into a congregation singing the Lord's praises in His presence." -John Calvin
- When I am responsive to the Holy Spirit
- What helps?
Wednesday May 29, 2019
Wednesday May 29, 2019
Series: Moses - An Unlikely Choice
Sermon: So You Got an F
Scripture: Exodus 2:12-22
Date: May 26, 2019
So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, "Why are you striking your companion?" Then he said, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" So Moses feared and said, "Surely this thing is known!" When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. And they came and drew water, and they filled the troughs to water their father's flock. Then the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. When they came to Reuel their father, he said, "How is it that you have come so soon today?" And they said, "An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he also drew enough water for us and watered the flock." So he said to his daughters, "And where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread." Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses. And she bore him a son. He called his name Gershom, for he said, "I have been a stranger in a foreign land." (Exodus 2:12-22)
What do we do when we fail?
We need to learn to think about life with God's thoughts.
Failure can be used as a discouragement or a development.
When we respond to failure like God wants us to, then God can use failure to promote:
- Obedience
- Exodus 2:14-15
- 2 Corinthians 7:10
- Sometimes when we see the consequences of our sin, it helps us to not sin. It might be:
- your child's broken heart
- your spouse's hurt
- the pain of regret
- the wasted opportunity
- the guilt that comes
- "God's ways are too good to miss." -Charles Stanley
- Satan's ways - and my ways - are too bad to embrace.
- A teachable spirit
- "Success is moving from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." -Winston Churchill
- Experience is the best teacher...learn from someone else's experience.
- Exodus 2:15
- We can be taught that:
- spiritual ends are not achieved by fleshly means
- timing is as important as action
- hiding wrong does not erase wrong
- Exodus 2:12
- A servant's heart
- Exodus 2:16-17
- Humility
- Humility helps us to see that we need God and each other.
- Exodus 2:16-21
You may have wandered
You may have stumbled
You may have tripped
You may have fallen
You may have crashed
You may have failed
It doesn't mean you're finished
It doesn't mean it's over
Throw yourself into the gracious, loving and merciful hands of God
He will pick you up!
-Christine Caine
Sunday May 19, 2019
Sunday May 19, 2019
Series: Quit Quitting
Sermon: Throwing Off Lies
Scripture: John 8:44
Date: May 19, 2019
LAST WEEK'S WEEKLY GROWTH SUGGESTION: Change your self-talk from fear to faith.
You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. (John 8:44)
Believing lies about God and how we relate to God is extremely damaging.
Jesus is the truth.
Here are some lies the devil wants you to believe:
- you'll never be good enough.
- you've made too many mistakes.
- you'll never be able to stop.
- God doesn't really care about you.
- no one really cares about you.
Hebrews 12:1, NIV
Lies need to be exposed and replaced with God's truth.
So let's look at some lies we believe and learn some truths from God that can set us free:
- You don't have what it takes
- "I'm trying to get a petition started that changes he name of Facebook to Façade and Instagram to Mirage." -Kyle Idleman
- With God, I have everything I need to do everything I need to do.
- 2 Peter 1:3, NLT
- You can fix it yourself
- How's that "fixing other people" thing working out for you?
- When I believe I can fix it myself, bad things happen:
- it increases pride
- If you get in trouble ask for help.
- it minimizes real problems
- I can quit anytime I want to.
- it fuels hypocrisy
- it increases pride
- John 15:5
- Hebrews 4:15-16, NIV
- You deserve to be happy
- After all, God wants me to be happy.
- God's ultimate goal is not for you to feel happy today.
- Here's the catch: short-term happiness often leads to long-term regret.
- If you believe God wants you to be happy above all else, you will fall into other lies...very damaging lies:
- You'll believe that whatever makes you feel happy must be right and whatever makes you feel unhappy must be wrong.
- You will believe God exists to serve you.
- There is a good chance you'll end up walking away from God.
- Psalm 37:4
- Psalm 32:11
- Psalm 144:15
- Philippians 4:4
WEEKLY CHALLENGE: Intentionally seek ways to find your happiness in Jesus.
God wants you to be happy but true happiness comes from pursuing Him.