This is You after the Fast
After fasting and praying…GET READY. Here you are!
Through the power of HIS Spirit!
BEASTMODE!!
All In | Week Two | Sermon Notes
(sermon notes posted every Monday)
ALL IN | Week Two
We are going ALL IN on the Gospel of Jesus!
We welcome anyone to come with us. Go ALL IN. However, today is a disclaimer.
We want you to know that you are getting into. This is not a sales pitch for your “best life now”. This is an offer for you to follow the Lord of Creation and be a part of setting up the kingdom of God that will rule and reign forever.
It will bring immense peace to your life, not because it solves all your problems, but because you will die to the present life and be reborn for a future.
At PromiseLand San Marcos we are ALL IN with God meaning we are not satisfied with the solution to problems and issues. We are dead to the present world in order to be alive for eternity!
Let’s talk about it!
Elijah was a powerful prophet of God. He brought difficult news to the Israelites. He could see the end of this life/ministry on the horizon and God instructed him to visit with Elisha who was a farmer in the Jordan valley.
As Elijah crests the hill, he sees Elisha plowing with a set of oxen. He goes up to Elisha and puts his cloak on him (sign of transfer of anointing). Elisha accepts the call. Tells his parents goodbye…
I Kings 19:21 So Elisha returned to his oxen and slaughtered them. He used the wood from the plow to build a fire to roast their flesh. He passed around the meat to the townspeople, and they all ate. Then he went with Elijah as his assistant.
Jesus said in
Luke 9:23 “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. 24 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 25 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?
Philippians 3:10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 SO THAT one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! 12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
Paul talks of the heroes of the faith starting from Abel and continues to present day (faith chapter)
Hebrews 11:33 By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. 35 Women received their loved ones back again from death. But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. 36 Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. 37 Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. 38 They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.
Listen to the way the 1st Century apostles existed this realm…
- Luke was hung by the neck from an olive tree in Greece.
- Doubting Thomas was pierced with a pine spear, tortured with red-hot plates, and burned alive in India
- Philip was tortured and crucified because while he preached the ruler’s wife was converted
- Matthew was stabbed in the back in Ethiopia.
- Bartholomew was flogged to death in Armenia.
- James the Just was thrown off the southeast pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem, then after surviving was clubbed to death by a mob.
3 Things to do when you are fasting and HUNGRY.
Christians fast from food to set themselves apart from their natural habits and activities. Our hope is that during the process, God will reveal how our heart has separated from him and began trusting in other gods. We want anything that separates us from God or takes the place of God to DIE. The Bible calls this: consecration.
Joshua 3:5 Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”
In modern times, there are many different ways to fast. Many do this periodically throughout each month. Others fast for a prolonged period at the beginning of the year or before a major decision or life change.
Going ALL IN for the All in All means that we could voluntarily go without other things in our lives for a period of time, proving our sole allegiance to God and no other.
We put our hope in HIS power and HIS resolution instead of eating, smoking, drinking, watching things that numb, distract, cloud out, confuse our present painful reality. The only way to find out where we are spiritually is to jump in and find out.
During a fast, we will find out that we are weaker and more broken than we thought. But, we also find out that God is more powerful and loving than we ever dared hope! (paraphrased from Pastor Timothy Keller)
While fasting you will become very hungry. We crave a cupcake, want a drink or a drag, or other pleasure.
In those moments, do these 3 things:
All In | Week One | Sermon Notes
ALL IN | Week One
We are going All In! I’m so glad you are here this morning, watching or listening online. We welcome you to PromiseLand San Marcos!
I have to admit one of my favorite games to play is Texas Hold ‘Em. I don’t go to Vegas or play with real money, but some guys get together from time to time and we have fun around the table. There comes a point in the game when your chips are down and you have a good hand or you are reading others a certain way. You know the time has come for you to take both hands and shove the entire sum of chips into the center of the table and say, “I’m All In”. You are betting everything on one hand.
I’m here to propose that you go all in on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Maybe you have been playing other hands trying to get ahead. Your stress goes up and down, your energy goes up and down. You try different methods to bring you comfort or rest.
Instead of dabbling in church or trying your hand, it would do you a lot of good (It would do your livelihood, your family, your health a whole lot of good) to go ALL IN with the one who made it ALL.
We have a wide spectrum of folks here today.
- Maybe you are like Abe and Jennifer when they made their first trip to PSM.
- Or maybe you have been kicking the tires for the last few weeks or months.
- Many have taken a step of faith to trust in Jesus for salvation!
- We have about 50 people that have gone through 101 in the last 3 months! Joined PSM. (that’s happening again today)
- Several hundred people are committed followers of Jesus and your lives are reflecting him in everyday life.
- Then there are some who are the anchors of faith in our congregation who have been following Jesus for several decades.
What a GREAT group of people here at PromiseLand San Marcos!
We just want you all to know that no matter where you are in your journey with God, that there is something in this message for you.
It is the same message for everyone BUT It will HIT everyone a little different.
The application to everyone is different depending on where your life is.
Give me a few minutes here and I will clarify a bit.
In the 16th Century, a renaissance astronomer: Nicolas Copernicus- rocked the world with his discovery. He stated we had a round earth (instead of flat) and that it rotated around the sun. Instead of everything revolving around the earth, the earth revolved around the sun. It turned the universe inside out.
WE all need the same revolution TODAY. We think that the world revolves around us.
We are born with everyone serving us. Spoon fed and diaper changed. As if the world exists to meet our every need.
If you are 2 months old, that is ok. If you are 32, that is a problem.
We put OUR desires and plans above everything else.
Even when most people confess their faith in God, we think we are following Jesus, but the reality is that most have invited Jesus to follow them.
We want Jesus to go right behind us. We want him to do our will and serve our purpose.
What would give you your “Copernicus moment”?
2013 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 16,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Robin Steele 