It’s a Wonderful Life | Week One
Week one of our sermon series: It’s a Wonderful Life. Listen to the message podcast by clicking here.
George Bailey lived in Bedford Falls. A man of big dreams and high aspirations.
Film clip: The Last Meal – (George and his dad, Peter Bailey, at the dinner table)
George Bailey looks like many of us. We are pursuing the Wonderful life! We are running fast towards our goals and aspirations. We believe that contentment can be found in adventure and success in hard work.
It’s a Wonderful Life. Really? On the news this week, we saw the latest installment of evil. 14 people gunned down in California. There have been 355 mass shootings this year. The face of evil that other countries across the world see on a regular basis is now being seen here. It shocks many Americans because we think we are smarter or should have evolved than this.
It’s a Wonderful Life. Really? 600,000 will die from heart disease this year, 580,000 will die from cancer, 55,000 from the flu or pneumonia, over 40,000 will take their own life.
To the Christ follower, the darkness of the world often saddens us. We weep with those who weep. We mourn and do not minimalize the suffering. It is real.
BUT it does not shock or surprise us. We know its source.
It is not because of a gun or because of a mental illness or because humans haven’t evolved beyond it.
It is because there is a very real and present “evil being” that is seeking to destroy God’s creation. Satan exists. We see evil and sin in this world because of satan. Christmas is a like a pinhole of light in a dark landscape.
The birth of Jesus is the beginning of a light that is spreading even to this day. Reversing a curse. Rewinding a trend. That someday will completely accomplish its mission.
Even with full lights on in the room, there is still darkness on the edges, corners. Shadows difficult places where there is no light. Could you imagine a time where darkness will be completely defeated. There will be no more shadows. Not just in the atmosphere, but in your life. No more secrets, no more suffering. No more pain or disease. No more betrayal and backstabbing. No more deficits. No more darkness.
Isaiah 2:2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. 3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Here we are between now and God’s ultimate restoration of all things. We live in the hallway between the resurrected Messiah, Jesus Christ on one side and the rejoining of heaven and earth forever. We live in between
The only way we can say that Life is Wonderful is to understand the whole scope of time. The whole picture. Life snippets can be exhilarating, exhausting, haunting.
Christ, the light came, so that we could have Life MORE Abundant. Jesus said while on the earth, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. John 10:10”
If you are looking for a life of wonder by the scope of your adventure or the size of your bank account, you will be always chasing after an elusive prize. We often accomplish our goals of success. We land the job. We win the promotion. We graduate! We get the raise.
Yet, isn’t it amazing how life has a way of disintegrating wins. A new season rolls around and it feels like you are starting over. We find ways to spend our bonuses and raises.
Life has a way of sucking the win out of our successes.
A Life of Wonder comes from outside of the chase. It comes from outside of the destination.
Luke 1:6 Zechariah (a priest) and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations. 7 They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and they were both very old.
What must that be like in that day in time. Kids were everything back then. Our generation now is all about the career and personal life. Back then, if you didn’t have kids, you were over. Kids were the path to meaning and significance. You didn’t just have 1 or 2 or 3 kids. You had as many kids as you could because many kids died young. Here they were faithful to God. Living their ordinary life…not seeing anything spectacular. Not bitter. Not giving up. Just living and serving God.
8 One day Zechariah was serving God in the Temple, for his order was on duty that week. 9 As was the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense.
Those words are bold because I want to emphasize the normal, mundane, sort of life that They lived.
10 While the incense was being burned, a great crowd stood outside, praying. 11 While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. 12 Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. 13 But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John. 14You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth…
Wait a minute, what prayer? Which prayer? Way back? Did he pray it every day? Had he given up on that request? Either way, it didn’t affect his worship. He was faithful. He continued to work his job, love his wife, and worship his God. Day in and day out. Believing God’s will to done.
The message today is, don’t sweat the small stuff. In fact, invest in the small stuff. God might be testing you, he might be waiting until the right time, or he might realize you need a ‘no’, but you can rest assured, that he has not forgotten about you. He has not abandoned the world.
He loves the world. He is heartbroken about the darkness and despair. The separation is not pleasing to him. In fact, he loves us so much that he choose to actually participate with us in its brokenness.
What an awesome God.
To choose to be with us.
When God wants to change the world he doesn’t send an army instead he sends a baby. That baby leads us to God
Romans 8:15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. 18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. 24 We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.) 26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. 28And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Won’t Change the Message. Will Change the Method.
I Love My Church! | Week Three
“I Love My Church.” Do you?
Last week, I announced that we are now translating our 9:45am service into Spanish. Also, we are adopting the Village of Las Joyas in Guatemala and will be giving an offering in December towards a new well and school facilities. We are taking 2 mission trips in 2016 to Mexico and Guatemala. Get more details on our website or The Hub! EXCITING!
Life is about more than “me”. Life is about “we”.
November is when the weather begins to chill down quite a bit, but for me it’s a very emotionally warm month. I love the change of season. The family time. Hanging out with family, eating, sharing stories of the year, loving on one another, a break from work. We are taking some time this month to think about the value of our church family. Life is about more than “me”. Life becomes much more rewarding and fulfilling when you remember that God created “we”.
Ephesians 2:19 So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. 20 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 22 Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.
PromiseLand San Marcos is a healthy “We”. What a great place to connect with others. Many of you have not heard the story, but this “we” started 12 years ago in 2003.
There were about 30 of us gathering on Friday nights. We knew that God was in it and that he had great plans, but I want to be real honest with you. I had no idea that it would be like this.
A first, I remember thinking, “man it would be amazing if we had our own building.” That would be so amazing!
Then I remember thinking, “we will have arrived if we get our own building and we have like 500 people gathering on a Sunday. Wow! We would have arrived.”
Little did we know all of what God would have in store for us. When we were faithful to the message and not stuck in our ways, God produced growth!
I Love My Church Because it Will Never Change its Message but it is Not Afraid of CHANGE its Methods.
Our message is Jesus. Our message is not about rituals or statues or superstitious. Our message is that you can trust the ancient manuscript of the Bible. We stand on the Bible as the Word of life!
The Word of God is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path. memorize it and store it.
In the Bible is the mind of God. In the Bible is the state of man, the doom of sin, the way of salvation, the happiness of the believers.
The bible’s doctrine is Holy, its precepts are binding, and its history is true You can read it and be wise, believe it and be saved, practice it and be holy. It contains light to direct. It has food to sustain you. It can comfort you. It can cheer you.
It’s the travelers mount. the pilgrim’s staff. the Christian’s charter
There is nothing like the Word of God! There Heaven is open, the gates of Hell closed, Jesus is the Grand subject, and the Glory of God is its end.
It shall fill the memory. It should rule the heart. It should guide the feet You read it slowly. you read it frequently. you read it prayerfully.
It is the mind of Wealth. the river of pleasure. It is given to you here in this life. it will be open to us in judgment. it is forever settled in heaven. it involves the highest responsibility. it condemns all who trifle with it pages.
This book is supernatural in origin, eternal in duration, divine in authorship, inexhaustible in meaning, perfect in precept, universal in readership, personal in application, powerful in effect.
It is sharpen than a 2 edged sword. it cuts both ways. No blade equals it
It has survived every attack. there is no book to equal it. It is life, a hammer, a seed, it penetrates darkness, it breaks opposition. It will melt, and consume. Its incorruptible, it uplifts, upholds, builds, sustains, orders your steps, gives hope, it shows us his will.
The Word of God: produces fruit, convicts sin, converts souls, cleanses the conscience, corrects the wrong, supports the right, conquers all foes. Read it, heed it, desire it, and preach it, Rightly divide it, live it, suffer for it, use it and if need be die for it.
Know it in your head, store it in your heart, show it in your life, and sew it in the world
No wonder the devil and Hell hates the Bible.
At PromiseLand San Marcos, we are always going to stand on the word of God. Believe in the Word of God, preach the Word of God. That is our Message!
The literal parts, the prophetic parts, the parables. Most of all the core message of:
John 10:7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
We will never change our stance on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. 17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
At the same time, I Love My Church Because of its willingness to change any method necessary to reach more people.
We have been called to be fishers of men and we are not afraid to change hooks and bait at any point. Our Sunday Celebration schedule, location, music, creative elements, preaching style, use of technology, social media, advertising, outreach events, small groups, leadership team, new membership process, office hours…
All of these things change over time.
We have bought property, added a service, added another service. Started streaming online, started a weekly podcast, Built a new $2million building, added another service.
We are looking forward to the next 5 years… to 2020. We have been asking God what might be the next step for our church. What is our 2020 vision?
(2020 Vision Video)
My pastor always said, I have built churches without money, but I have never built a church without people. During this sermon series, I want to convey the rich and robust culture of PromiseLand, give you an insight on how things happen, and also inspire you to jump in at a deeper level.
Things don’t just happen. Growth, development, and progress are a direct result of a planting seed, working the farm, and then relying on God to produce supernatural growth with what we have sown in the ground, THEN we go back to work and exert a lot of labor to bring in the harvest.
The same is the case with your personal life. Your life is the result of the seeds you have drought. However, over the term of many years, you will reap exponentially more than what you have sown.
Let’s start sowing good seed in your life. Let’s start a new cycle. A new growth track.
PromiseLand San Marcos is here to walk with you through the planting seasons of life. The difficult parts when you don’t enjoy the fruit of your labor yet. We know how it is. We have been there. In fact, some people in our church that have been in the family of God for years are in a planting season right now. Nothing to show of it right now. In fact, looking at soil with seed in it looks boring, barren and discouraging.
I Love My Church | Week One | Sermon Notes
Here we are in a new sermon series called, “I Love My Church”.
I believe our life fulfillment begins when we realize that: Life is about more than “me”. Life fulfillment begins when I understand that: Life is about “we”.
From the beginning of the Bible, we learn that: It was not good for man to be alone. (Genesis 2:18) So, God creates community. GOD created the concept that humans would gather, pool resources, trade, share ideas, work together, collaborate and when they did, The sum of that community would be greater than the sum of its individual members. God designed humans to gather and form partnerships. The synergy of these partnerships would create something that was impossible form individually.
Ephesians 2:19 So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. 20 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 22 Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.
Acts 2:42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. 43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.
Read the whole book of Acts for more info on this first church. This church changed the world! We are here today because of the efforts of this group. This community. This church body.
Characteristics of the First Church:
- They met together regularly at the church property and in homes.
- They worshipped together.
- They gave generously of their possessions.
- They stuck together in the midst of a culture that was opposed to their way of life. (we know this from other historical study and further scriptures in Acts.)
- They enjoyed each other.
- They Lord increased the size of their church family. (by thousands)
The local church was an enormous part of their life. In fact, it was the core part of their life. It was from their local church that they based their life. God honored their loyalty and dedication to the local church and gave supernatural growth to them individually, healing physically and emotionally.
I want to talk just a bit about 2 reasons why I love my church:
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I Love My Church Because of its DIVERSITY
PromiseLand is colorful. PromiseLand is heavenly. Heaven is not going to have a white section and a Hispanic section and a black section. Heaven is going to look like PromiseLand.
A place where color absolutely does not define you.
A place where your talent or your money absolutely does not define you.
A place where your gender does not elevate or demote you.
At PromiseLand San Marcos we love every person, race, ethnic origin, every gender. Men are going to lead. Women are going to lead. We are going to have black and white and brown pastors. Quite honestly, we aren’t going to talk much about it, we are just going to be it.
If you are new to a multi-cultural environment, then I encourage you to get out of your comfort zone and become friends with people of other colors, other economic
You know what else I love about my church? I love that we embrace those who challenged physically and mentally. We have a adult, teens, and kids who were born with special needs and they have the exact same value here as everyone else. Sometimes they make noise, walk around, act differently than we do. We love ‘em!
We have a phenomenal special needs class room for our younger ones. Some of you might not realize the importance of this class because your life hasn’t been touched personally with this situation. Having a child with special needs means it takes twice as long to get ready. Means you often have to lap a parking lot to find a parking spot because someone parked illegal in the one spot where your van has room to unload the wheel chair. It means people stare at you in the grocery store. It means some give you an evil eye in church when they get a little loud.
I’m thankful I have a church that welcomes all of God’s children no matter who they are or what they can do!
I want to introduce you to Maria’s family. Maria was born with Autism. Her parents didn’t speak English. They wanted to find a place to worship. A place that would accept them for who they were and love on their daughter. Check out this video.
(VIDEO of Chavez Family)
I am so happy to say that beginning today we are interpreting our Sunday morning services in Spanish! If you know folks that need this translation, invite them to the 9:45am service.
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I Love My Church Because of its HEART FOR THE WORLD
At PromiseLand, we believe that we have been blessed in America because our ancestors put God first in their lives. However, at the same time, we do not believe America is better than other nations. Instead, we understand the responsibility that comes with blessing.
Luke 12:48…When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.
We have been given much in the way of education, health, business, finances, spiritual renewal. Instead of wallowing in it or squandering it. At PromiseLand, we find places across the globe to partner with and participate in God’s transformation of that area.
We believe and pray that God’s Kingdom will come and His will be done on Earth as it is in heaven. We also believe that we should not just pray for that to happen across the world, but that we should put on some boots and gloves and dig wells, build homes, build schools, feed kids. We should drive long distances, get on planes and fly around the world.
Our international mission is: Transformation. We want to participate in the transformation of our world in two ways: spiritual and physical. First, we want to help communities naturally with fresh water and education. Second, we want to help local pastors and churches. We believe that if we first help with the natural needs, then the spiritual transformation will follow more effectively.
Beginning in 2005, we went to Monterrey, Mexico built a house for a single mom and helped her start a childcare business.
In 2010, we went to the Nigerian village of Izzi. We drilled the first well their community had ever seen. We bought land and built a church. A last year we built a school for them.
This year, we started a relationship with Guatemala We sent money to rescue 7 babies through World Help.
I’m so excited to announce today that we are officially adopting an entire village in Guatemala beginning a 4 year plan for a Total Village Transformation.
Check this video out:
(VIDEO of Guatemala Total Village Transformation (7min))
It is now our turn! As of this past month, we have officially adopted the village of Las Joyas.
We will be providing: clean drinking water, new school facilities, new church building, self-sustaining businesses, and possibly homes for villagers.
We have trips planned for both Mexico and Guatemala in the summer of 2016. Go to our website for more info.
Home Wreckers | Leaving a Legacy | Sermon Notes
You can always listen to my sermon podcasts by clicking here.
In this series, we are tackling 6 of the biggest issues wrecking our homes:
Money, being single, raising kids, marriage, divorce. There is an enemy out there trying to destroy your home.
HOME-the place in which your domestic affections are centered. (dictionary.com)
At PromiseLand San Marcos, we want to help you and anyone else that will listen to find the TRUTH from Jesus so that your home will not be wrecked by the lies of this culture.
Jesus said it like this:
Matthew 7:24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
Today, we are going to talk about what will happen when you leave. You are going to leave. At some point, you will leave this earth. Then what? Will your home stand after you are gone? When you have passed from this earth, what will be left? We call this a legacy.
When most people think about passing something down to loved ones, they think about the property, the house. Who is getting the car? Who is getting the jewelry or the guns or the antique?
However, we are talking about a different type of legacy than personal possessions. We are talking about a way of life. A Home Culture.
What type of home culture or foundation are you leaving your family right now? We are ALL right in the middle of passing down something to the next generation. It is not a question of if you will pass something down. The question is: WHAT are you currently passing down? Most likely you are passing down what ever was passed to you
We all have been GIVEN a heritage. We will all LEAVE a legacy.
WHERE WE HAVE COME FROM IS OUR HERITAGE. A heritage is the spiritual, emotional, and social legacy that you received from whomever raised you . . . good or bad.
We cannot deny the ties of biology and identity that tie us to our parents and their parents, going back for generations. Your connections to preceding generations can bring the good or the bad.
WHAT DID WE INHERIT?
How we talk, walk, cook, eat, exercise, smile, laugh, see and understand God, How we treat our kids, how we treat our spouse, how we work, how we view the world, how we see other skin colors, how we value education, how we approach a difficult situation, what kind of faith we have, how we value family, how we view moms and dads roles…
Many in the room today were handed a pattern or cycle of negativity. For generations there has been: addiction, abuse, poverty, jealousy, racism. Some come from a long line of workaholics, cheaters, arrogant/prideful judges (judgmental).
Without even knowing it, we begin to pass down traits like this to our kids and stepkids.
Kids say the darndist things, don’t they? No. They say what we say. They repeat what we say. They repeat how we treat our wife. They repeat how we deal with our problems.
The anger, fear, frustration, bitterness that you were hated as a kid and promised never to participate in has somehow become your nature and now you are passing it on to the next generation. Sometimes we wake up in the middle of these situations almost like we have had a bad dream and think, what I have I done? I am becoming just like my dad. I am sounding just like my mom.
The good news today, is that we can reverse the curse through Jesus Christ. He did not come into the world to save you and leave you like that. He came to redeem you from your past and set you up for a new future: That your home might be on a firm foundation AND that your kids will carry on that firm foundation long after you are gone.
Our hope in Christ not only provides the way out of an ungodly HERITAGE but also empowers us to establish a Godly LEGACY.
Writer Ring Lardner: “The family you come from isn’t as important as the family you’re going to have.”
God is calling us to Leave a Christ-Like Legacy!
Proverbs 17:6 Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.
Proverbs 22:1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.
1 John 2:17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
Peter said it like this:
2 Peter 1:12 Therefore, I will always remind you about these things—even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth you have been taught. 13 And it is only right that I should keep on reminding you as long as I live. 14 For our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me that I must soon leave this earthly life, 15 so I will work hard to make sure you always remember these things after I am gone.
HOW DO WE BUILD A LEGACY?
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Acknowledge Your Heritage
Come to terms with what you have been given. Admitting what our heritage is can be one of the toughest things to do. Why? Because we have a bond with our family. We love our family. However, we need to identify what parts of our heritage are not a firm foundation. We need to discover what cycles need to be broken in our family culture.
- How we process Anger
- How we process Fear
- How we deal with Pressure
- How we express our Feelings
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Accept Your Responsibility
You matter. What you do matters.
Stop thinking that kids are resilient and that they will bounce back, they will not remember or that it is good for them to be toughened up.
Sometimes we feel ourselves slipping back in to the old nature (daisy). We trust in Jesus to clean the closets of our heritage.
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Create Relationships with Mentors.
Find someone you want to be like and learn from them. Have them download a new operating system into your life. Talk to them. Ask them questions. Take them to dinner or coffee. Spend money. Put your treasure there.
I found pastors that I admired and I emailed them, stalked them until I got their phone numbers, texted them, sent them money. INVEST in me! HELP me!
You need to sow where you want to go. Find someone that is in a place where you want to go and started sowing there.
This church is filled with godly men and women that are needing people to disciple. Small groups are the easiest way to find some of these people. “I tried a small group and didn’t really like it. It quit meeting. FIND ANOTHER ONE. TRY AGAIN.
1 Peter 5:2 (Elders) Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God…5 In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
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Start Now!
Stop putting it off. It is not too early. It is not too late.
SELF DISCIPLINE – make changes when you do not feel like it. When you do not want to do it for yourself, do it for your kids.
Having active parents makes a difference!
- Children with Fathers who are involved are 70% less likely to drop out of school, are more likely to get A’s in school, are more likely to enjoy school and engage in extracurricular activities are more likely to avoid high-risk behaviors such as drug use, truancy, and criminal activity compared to children who have uninvolved fathers.
- Adolescent girls raised in a 2 parent home with involved Fathers are significantly less likely to be sexually active than girls raised without involved Fathers.
By walking with Christ, we can do what is against all odds, humanly speaking. As believers, we have the presence of God’s Spirit to guide us to change, so the legacy we write in others’ lives can be godly.
Home Wreckers | Divorce | Sermon Notes
Home Wreckers! | Week Five
You can always listen to our podcast of this message: click here
In this series, we are tackling 6 of the biggest issues wrecking our homes. We have talked about: Money, being single, raising kids, marriage,
Today we are going to talk about the very difficult topic of: Divorce! There is an enemy out there trying to destroy your home. HOME – the place in which your domestic affections are centered. (dictionary.com) At PromiseLand San Marcos, we want to help you and anyone else that will listen to find the TRUTH from Jesus so that your home will not be wrecked by the lies of this culture.
Jesus said it like this:
Matthew 7:24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
We have all heard that the divorce rate in America is 50%. That is sort of true. When you look at the statistics closer, you see:
- 41% of first marriages end in divorce.
- 60% of second marriages end in divorce.
- 73% of third marriages end in divorce.
- 10% of marriages active in local church end in divorce. Harvard-trained researcher Shaunti Feldhahn
Let’s look at what the Bible teaches about Divorce. I have created a little illustrated chart for you to follow along with. You can take notes on the left side and fill in MARRIAGE or DIVORCE under each scenario as we go along. We want to see what the Bible says about each one.
This first scripture is a response from Jesus to people trying to trick him. Judgmental, Religious leaders who didn’t like Jesus were trying to get him to mess up. They wanted to catch him in some sort of mistake or confusion about God’s ways.
Matthew 19:3 … “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” 4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
2 Happy Believers Should Stay Married
Two Married people who believe in Jesus should not get divorced. He makes it clear that marriage is intended for man and woman and that it is a covenant that you make with each other lasting until one of you dies. Pretty self explanatory. Most people don’t have a problem staying together when things are going well.
Matthew 19:7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so…”
2 Unhappy Believers Should Stay Married
This doesn’t mean that Jesus wants them to stay unhappy. Instead, he wants to be their solution to struggle and pain. JESUS wants to the softener of their hearts!
THIS HAS HAPPENED TO SO MANY PEOPLE I KNOW! I have counseled tons of believers in the last 12 years that have been in awful situations of legal trouble, debt, cheating, selfishness… BUT JESUS. They trusted in Jesus and He made a way in their life. Sin may be abounding in a marriage. Sin and ugliness may be rearing its ugly head, but the Bible brings us good news today:
Romans 5:20 But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
(NLT)…But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. 21 So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
It does not matter how dark and bleak the situation looks, IF BOTH husband and wife surrender to the almighty God of heaven and earth something can begin to shift in the marriage. Selfishness begins to dry up. Love, mercy, and peace begin to bloom and sprout like a wildflower!
If you are contemplating divorce, always remember this:
Divorce will cost you much more than you ever expected and will return much less of a reward than you ever hoped.
About 5-6 years ago we had a woman tell us she had a vision from God that she was to leave her marriage. Her husband was faithful to her, loved her, provided for the kids, wanted to stay married. She DID NOT have a vision, she had indigestion or something…She was disinterested. Didn’t want to invest in the marriage. Most of all wasn’t trusting in Jesus to be the savior, was DECIEVED and was blaming it on God.
The Bible is clear divorce is not for 2 “believers”. If you are in this situation where you want it to work out and you simply don’t know the path, then PLEASE contact us and let one of our pastors or counselors meet with you and your spouse. JESUS IS ABLE!
1 Corinthians 7:12 Now, I will speak to the rest of you, though I do not have a direct command from the Lord. If a fellow believer has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to continue living with him, he must not leave her. 13 And if a believing woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to continue living with her, she must not leave him.
1 Unhappy (or happy) Believer and 1 Happy Unbeliever Should Stay Married
Basically, if you married not knowing God’s perfect plan and you married someone who doesn’t trust in God (unequally yoked) OR if they changed their mind about Jesus after marriage: Paul is saying, that is not grounds for divorce. If that person still loves you and you are working on your marriage, keep on going.
It will be difficult because you might disagree on how to raise kids, give financially, spend time at church functions, etc. BUT GOD is able to handle all those situations. He understands you might be needed in His plan to help your unsaved loved one.
1 Corinthians 7:15 But if the husband or wife who isn’t a believer insists on leaving, let them go. In such cases the believing husband or wife is no longer bound to the other, for God has called you to live in peace.
1 Abandoned Believer and 1 Unhappy Leaver Ends in Divorce
Notice, I put Unhappy LEAVER. It doesn’t matter if the leaver says they are a believer or not. If they are walking out on a marriage, then they are not believing in Jesus as their savior. AND Someone doesn’t have to file for divorce to “leave” the marriage. Sometimes BELIEVERS have to file for divorce to move on with their lives because the leaver is too unstable and unable to make rational choices with their future.
Going back to the text we read earlier, Jesus said to the religious leaders:
Matthew 19:9 And I tell you this, whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery—unless his wife has been unfaithful.”
Being unfaithful is the key to the divorce allowance. What does that mean? Some would say that means adultery only. When we start to write in stone the specifics of the law of what unfaithful we start to become the Pharisees that were talking to Jesus in the first place.
If you are unsure about your relationship with your spouse and if they are being unfaithful and if divorce is where you need to head, then TALK to your pastor. Speak to someone that can help you get to the heart of the matter. That is exactly what Jesus was trying to convey to the Pharisees. They wanted him to define the letter of the law, and Jesus said no, it is about the HEART not the letter of the law. In fact, when it comes to the heart, the law can actually be tough than the letter… (lust is adultery, not just sex)
I want to speak to those of you who are either going through a divorce or you have been divorced already:
Often you can’t keep tragedy from striking your life, but you always have the power to decide how you respond to it. No one can take that from you.
The grief of divorce is neutral in a sense. The darkness of divorce does not have the authority to control you. You can decide to allow the heaviness of divorce take you down the tunnel of depression or up in an atmosphere of worship.
In these moments of despair, you remember the truth that Greater is He that lives within you than he who lives in the World.
1 John 4:4 But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.
I am going to be a VICTOR, not a VICTIM: VICTIM or VICTOR
Victim and Victors start the same way. Someone did you wrong. You were trying your best and others have taken advantage of your goodness. When you have been the target of ugliness, you have a disctint option. Although VICTIM and VICTORS start out the same way, they have complete different outcomes. Some of you have been dealt a hand that really stinks, but I have come today to bring good news! JESUS IS IN THE HOUSE TODAY.
We don’t always understand God’s timing or reasons for allowing certain things, but I believe that your miracle is in the house today because Jesus is here and He is still the miracle worker.
What do you do in the waiting room of life? What do you do when she has walked out on you or he found someone else? We make the choice to respond to God’s truth and promise. He WILL restore our home. He WILL restore our peace. He WILL satisfy us. He WILL protect and fulfill us.
Maybe you are sitting here and asking the question: how do I know if I am a believer or not.
When we say believer, we mean that you BELIEVE Jesus Christ was not just a human, but that he was more than a human. He lived a perfect life, he lived the life that we all want to live, He saw that we as humans were imperfect and failing at life. He loved us so much that he made a new covenant with us. If you believe in me, If you trust in me, I will trade you. I will take your broken life and receive the punishment for it, and you can have what my life earned: eternal life.
Who ever today calls on the name of the Lord, will be saved. You can become a believer in Jesus right now. Not because of your grandma, or momma, or daddy, or spouse, BUT because YOU want to live a new life of freedom.
If that is you OR this message specifically spoke to you about marriage or divorce, I want you to come out of the aisles right now and walk towards the front in a sign of surrender.
Robin Steele 