Tape 2465.02, “Oh, My God!” Series
Senior Pastor, Jeff Jones
Props to the drama team for the wonderful tension that was created between the reading of news headlines against a little girl singing “He’s got the whole world in His hands“.
Why does God allow the hard stuff?
Our Assumption
If God is in control of my life, and He is good, then He will make my life easy. He will not allow hard.
We want safe, comfortable lives. A cosmic Easy Button. 
Reality
God is in the hard, and His goodness is often expressed in difficulty.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer had a great understanding of this and The Cost of Discipleship. I really want to read this book sometime soon. I can’t believe I never saw the Bonhoeffer movie that came out a few years back. I remember that it played at the Angelika for a quite a long time.
Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
- Hard forges our character.
Genesis 39:2-6 (the Lord with with Joseph is stated 4 times). Philippians 3:10. Colossians 1:24. Philippians 1:29. Jesus learned obedience through suffering and we can as well.
- Hard forces dependence upon God.
It will break our self-reliance. Jesus will only be strong in the lives of the weak. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Listen to God is Great, God is Good? with iTunes.
Tape 2465.01, “Oh, My God!” Series
Dr. Lanier Burns, Guest Speaker
We missed church today, thankfully there is a podcast!
Listen to The Greatness and Goodness of God with iTunes.
Tape 2464.02
Senior Pastor, Jeff Jones
Our natural mistake: reducing spirituality to a formula. Genesis 5:22-24. 2 Peter 3:18.
- You can do the formula and not get the result.
- You can not do the formula and get the result.
- No one-sized formula works for everyone.
True spirituality is not a formula but a relationship.
God is a person, not a computer. It’s more like falling in love than a recipe for making cookies.
Our spiritual pursuit: Finding a way of relating to God that works for you.
- God’s commands, His Truth. John 14:15-24. God is authority and a close relationship with Him requires obedience. So get over it, submission is part of the deal.
- The need for discipline. Philippians 3:10-14.
- The disciplines that lead to growth.
- Word of God, but there is a warning not to just build your brain. James 1:22-25.
- Gathering
- Community
- Prayer
- Serving
Listen to People Connecting to God with iTunes.
Tape 2460.01
Worship Arts Pastor, John Maikowski
It’s more about who God is than what He’s done.
Secondary — Natural Gratitude
Primary — Gracious Gratitude
For Further Reflection
Listen to A God Worth Thanking with iTunes.
Tape 2459.06 iLife #6, 1 Corinthians Series
Senior Pastor, Jeff Jones
How do we make choices when the issue is not black and white? How do we stay unified and still appealing to the world around us?
A look at 1 Corinthians 8 and Romans 14.
First a definition
- IT (i.e. the gray area, the disputable thing):
- IT includes things such as alcohol, movies, cable tv, rock/rap music, dancing, worship forms, dress codes, poker, smoking, tattoos, dating non-believers, etc.
How do you decide about the IT?
With you
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Develop your own convictions.
- 1 Corinthians 8:7-8
- 1 Corinthians 10:23
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Be solid and confident.
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Keep it between you and God:
So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves.
Romans 14:22
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Just because you can participate in some IT does not mean that you have to or should participate (personal hangups, your own weak areas)
With strong believers
Live out your convictions. They understand the freedoms we have in Christ.
With weak believers
With an unbeliever
Do whatever is best to help them come to know Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:27-29.
Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
1 Corinthians 9:19-23
With a legalist
Do not limit your freedom and confront the legalism head on. Jesus and Paul never appeased these legalists.
Do not listen to those who want to tell you the “right” things to do in these areas.
- Romans 14:1-3
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“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
Matthew 23:23-28
- Colossians 2:16-23
- Galatians 2:11-14
What is your IT?
Listen to iLife: Beyond the Back and White—Choices in the Gray with iTunes.
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