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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.
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”?
Sermon Notes | The Nativity Experience Part 1
Jesus has always existed. It is hard for us to wrap our heads around that.
Genesis says “in the beginning”. That simply means the beginning of the world, not the beginning of God. We don’t know when the world started in relation to God because we have no reference for God beginning. It’s not like we would say, “a thousand years after God started, the world began.” God has no beginning or stopping. He always is.
John said it clearly at the start of his gospel when he said, “In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. When God created the world he spoke things and the Word created all things.
God said, “Let there be light…”
God said, “Let the waters be gathered…”
God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass…”
As God spoke, His Word created. Think about that power. We might think we create, however, we only artistically combine. God is able to start with zero substance, speak His Word, and instantly worlds are created. Humans have creative tendency because we are made in His image, however, we are only able to take elements that God created and try to arrange them in a productive or beautiful way.
John went on to say, “God created everything through the Word, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”
God knows that at some point His Word will become a person. How does the Word of God that creates worlds become a person? Something this spectacular could descend directly from the clouds as an apparition. Someone this regal would be born to the most influential king of the world. Someone this distinct should arrive as a fully-grown man ready to take charge. Ready to judge the world and set things in order.
Right?
No.
Many millennia had passed since creation. Millions of people came and went. The earth suffered greatly from different natural disasters. God related to humans. He displayed his love and justice to them from an indefinite distance. If certain men went through certain procedures at certain times of the year, then they would be eligible to connect with Him.
After all, if lowly humanity was to come in contact with the brilliance of a light that speaks seas, mountains, and animals into existence it should be careful, reverent, and submissive.
So people worshipped God and God provided for His people. However, a cycle began very early. God provided, people were blessed, people forgot God and fell into rebellion against God. This happened over and over and over and over. God provided a way. People trusted the way and were blessed. Then, people were distracted with life and their trust was put in the world and they fell away from God.
When God showed up it would be in a burning bush that never burned up. A fire in the sky or food that fell from the sky at just the right time. God separated a sea and allowed them to walk on dry land. God gave trumpets super powers to crush the walls of a mighty city. He guided a rock from a shepherd’s sling to the exact spot on a giant so that he would be defeated. God sent fire from the sky that burned up the water soaked altar of a false god. The Word that created the world continued to make himself known.
So, if this Power. This Light. This Word of God was to transform itself into a person that walked on the earth it created…how would that happen?
After all these signs and wonders and creativity and power… After God had loved man and man had forgotten God… there was about 400 years of silence from God.
Then, the Word in His infinite wisdom, when the world’s position was in just the right spot. The governments of the world, the transportation systems, and the human climate were in place.
Instead of directly appearing out of the sky like the Terminator to set things straight.
Instead of being born to the palace of the Roman Caesar
Instead… The Word… peeks in on Mary tending to the family’s farm in Nazareth.
The Word has an Angel go a girl on the other side of the tracks. Mary, a commoner. Young. Virgin. Unknown by the world. No authority. No influence even in Nazareth. Mary didn’t come from the bad side of town. She came from the bad town. (nothing good comes from Nazareth).
Though, she was young and a virgin, she was engaged to a young carpenter, named Joseph. They had a quiet future ahead of them. Marriage, kids, family life in peaceful Nazareth. Now everything has changed.
God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”
Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!
Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”
Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.
Mary was compelled to go visit Elizabeth. If Elizabeth was indeed pregnant then maybe she wasn’t just dreaming. Maybe she really was pregnant without being with a man.
Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”
This last phrase of Elizabeth sums up the issue that all of humanity has struggled with since the garden of Eden. Do you trust God?
Not trusting God created the cycle of struggle for thousands of years.
Lack of Trust = failure, brokenness, sin.
Trust = God is with us.
Trusting God seems to be the gate.
Wow! The Word, the Creative Light entering the world as a human hinged on the heart of an unknown virgin from Nazareth. Will she trust what God said?
When you think of the track record of humanity believing and living in trust of God, that was so bold of God. It could have gone wrong so many ways.
God provided an Angel for Mary that gave her a warning and a word. However, the angel also gave her a confidant. She was provided a Friend (Elizabeth). Another human confirmed and walked with her through the unbelievable proposition from God.
God has a plan, offers it to humans, gives us a choice, gives us resources to handle it.
Do we trust him?
Look at Mary’s fiancé. Joseph. Wow. He was put in a tough predicament. In 2013, even in our secular society, we don’t look favorably on those who have affairs. In Mary’s culture, women were stoned for cheating. Joseph gets the word that his wife is pregnant and he knows they haven’t been together. He is faced with the brutal choice of taking her word (from the angel) or believing common sense. She cheated. Joseph comes to the conclusion that she cheated on him.
There is one phrase in the gospel of Matthew that speaks so deeply of Joseph.
It says, “…then Joseph, being a just man.” He was a good man. He must be so broken hearted that his future wife has cheated on him. He was devastated, but he didn’t allow his misfortune to sway his character. The scripture says that he decided to quietly end things with Mary and not make a big deal about it.
Then, God provides an angel for him too.
“Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid (trust) to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.
This Story beautifully depicts an eternal God with supernatural powers that creates man with His Word. When man separates himself from God, the Word becomes man.
Next week, we will talk about exactly how that happened in Bethlehem. We have some really good parts to cover next week.
As you sit and listen to the story of God, he begins to work on your heart. The Spirit of creativity, the Word of God begins to speak to you. What would happen if we listened to that same voice and trusted what we heard?
Sometimes we make it too complicated. We try too hard to work through the logic. We want to reason ourselves into a comfortable understanding. However, when we hear from God, the message is often speaking a different word than what we are used to hearing.
Remember, His word speaks to nothing and makes it something.
His Word creates worlds. What part of your world is broken and needing a savior?
Sermon Notes | Who is at Your Table
Here is a sermon I preached at New Life Fellowship in San Antonio
Who Sits at Your Table
Thesis: Inviting ALL people to your table is the sign of your trust and belief in Jesus Christ.
2 Samuel 9:1 One day David asked, “Is anyone in Saul’s family still alive—anyone to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 2 He summoned a man named Ziba, who had been one of Saul’s servants. “Are you Ziba?” the king asked. “Yes sir, I am,” Ziba replied. 3 The king then asked him, “Is anyone still alive from Saul’s family? If so, I want to show God’s kindness to them.” Ziba replied, “Yes, one of Jonathan’s sons is still alive. He is crippled in both feet.”
He is found in Lo Debar and comes to Jerusalem.
2 Samuel 9:7 “Don’t be afraid!” David said. “I intend to show kindness to you because of my promise to your father, Jonathan. I will give you all the property that once belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will eat here with me at the king’s table!” 8 Mephibosheth bowed respectfully and exclaimed, “Who is your servant, that you should show such kindness to a dead dog like me?”
9 Then the king called Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s grandson. 10 And you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him and shall bring in the produce, that your master’s grandson may have bread to eat. But Mephibosheth your master’s grandson shall always eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.
3 Men of the Story:
- David: a Man of great POWER and AUHTORITY “Who can I honor?”
- Mephibosheth had nothing to offer David. He was lame in both feet. Living in Lo debar
- Ziba has no authority but is in a critical position to serve and facilitate. For David and Mephibosheth.
There are quite possibly folks here today that aren’t used to this church thing and you might feel like you are out of place because church is for good people.
“What do you have to offer God?”
“What have you done that would make you right with God?”
I have good news for you today.
Humans left God; rebelled, sinned. While we were in the midst of doing our own thing and living a life that built our own kingdom, He died for us.
God so loved the world that he put a chair at His table for us.
We (like Mephibosheth) have no power, resources or value to give God that he doesn’t already have in his existence already. YET, he gives us a spot. He gives us a place to simply be…us.
He is looking today for people to sit at his table that have nothing to offer him. He is looking for Mephibosheths that are broken, hurting, lonely, desperate.
If you are looking for a place to belong, then you have come to the right place! There is room at the kings table for you.
Sermon Notes | Is Jesus Really God?
Explore God | Is Jesus Really God?
It is no secret. We say yes. We just ate bread and drank grape juice signifying our declaration and allegiance to him.
I do want to spend a few moments with folks who might still be considering who Jesus was. Then, I want spend a little time with those who declare Him as God.
When you consider how historians establish ancient records such as the Alexander the Great, Socrates, Egypt, and so forth, and use the same standard with the story of Jesus, he stands solid.
Other Books:
Talmud A famous passage in the Talmud speaks of Jesus as “the Nazarene” who “practiced magic and led Israel astray”. Jesus is said to have been hanged on the eve of the Passover. This text also teaches that “Jesus had five disciples, Mattha, Naqai, Nezer, Buni and Todah,” possible references to Matthew, Nicodemus, an anonymous Nazarene, John and Thaddeus.”
Josephus – And so he [Ananus the High Priest] convened the judges of the Sanhedrin and brought before them a man called James [cf. Acts 15:13], the brother of Jesus who was called the Christ [cf. Gal 1:19], and certain others. He accused them of having transgressed the law and delivered them up to be stoned’
Bible Accuracy
- 2,328 manuscripts and manuscript fragments surviving from the earliest centuries of the Christian church and representing all portions of the Gospels.
- Twenty-one papyri containing major sections of one or more Gospels can be dated to the third and fourth centuries.
- five virtually complete NTs survive from the fourth and fifth centuries. (300-400AD)
PICS of The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in the 1940s, were scrolls from BEFORE Jesus. 11 caves and over 13,000 documents were discovered. The entire book of Isaiah that confirmed our Isaiah!
This evidence is overwhelming compared with the numbers and ages of manuscripts which have survived for most other ancient documents believed to contain reliable accounts of historical events.
SO WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT WHO JESUS WAS?
Was he a prophet? Yes Was he a teacher? Yes Was he a leader of social justice? Yes
Was he more than that? YES. None of those things were controversial.
These were common positions to the time and acceptable to the Jewish religion. If those were his only calling, then he would not have been crucified. If all Jesus did was teach, prophesy, or spread a message of social justice, that was hardly news to the people of Israel and hardly something that would raise the ire of the Pharisees and ultimately get him killed.
Here are 3 KEY statements from scripture about WHO Jesus was:
‘Son of Man’
It occurs eighty-four times in NT. 3rd most used title for Jesus. Almost always it was used by Jesus to describe Himself. It was obviously His favorite title for Himself. Confirming the prophet Daniel:
Daniel 7:13 As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence.
‘Son of God’
Occurs 124 times in the NT. The NT characteristically describes Jesus’ relationship to God in terms of divine sonship. The concept itself carries a variety of meanings, including commissioning to special work, obedience, intimate fellowship, knowledge, likeness and the receiving of blessings and gifts.”
“I Am”
It supports Jesus’ divine status by showing that he can work, speak and act in the Father’s stead. He is no mere human. He is the Word of God dwelling in human flesh. In the many ‘I AM’ sayings Jesus is publicly applying the divine name of God—and God’s authoritative presence—to himself. No prophet or priest in Israelite history would ever have done this. When Jews heard Jesus claim to be “I am, they had to believe him as God or believe he was blaspheming God.
John 8:24 That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I Am who I claim to be, you will die in your sins.
John 8:28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will understand that I Am he.
John 8:58 Truly, Truly I say to you, before Abraham was I am.
We can hear these statements and start to mentally wrap our minds around the thought that Jesus existed and that he could have had significance. If you are in that spot, please know that there is so much more.
For those that have heard about Jesus all your life and have heard those scriptures many times before, please know that Jesus being God is more than tradition or religion.
VIDEO –
http://youtu.be/r-qb8tq5ZFs
You might know of Jesus as God in your head as a concept, but have you come to the place where you trust Jesus as God in your heart?
Maybe our problem is our misconception of “God” and “gods”. There is one God who is all-powerful and all-knowing. However, we have the power to put other gods in front of Him. When that happens, we fail to honor Jesus as God.
When you peel back the layers of our culture, it becomes clear that we are not monotheistic. Instead, we believe in many gods. We put many different things in front of Jesus. The Bible calls these things idols. Most of us haven’t considered them idols, but we consider them vitally important to our physical and mental health and peace. Family, finances, job, spouse, physical health, comfortable surroundings, and many other things find themselves as a priority. Salvation comes when you trust Jesus Christ alone as God. All the other factors of life simply are designed to contribute to your relationship with God.
Romans 1: 21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. 23 And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.
My story of Kennady’s diagnosis.
It seems like to me we start believing Jesus as God when He is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit through scripture. Then, we spend a lifetime learning to trust Him as God.
Who do you say that I am?
What happens to our everyday life when we trust in Jesus?
Robin Steele 