Faithful by Abby Davis and Dad

Needed to be reminded of this today - good song girl

Pictures of the Core Group Meeting Place

The Will - Part 1

The Will of God – Part 1

100% of all teens I have ministered to have had questions about the will of God. When do I know I’m doing it? Why won’t he just tell me? When will I know? I wanted to speak about this because Christians ought to make God’s will the practice of their life…nothing more, nothing less and nothing else. There are at least 10 specifics statements of God’s particular will in the bible. We will look at 3 tonight

1) Salvation (Repentance)
1 Timothy 2:3-6
3This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
2 Peter 3:8-9:
8But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

To know the will of God, to be in the will of God you must be saved. According to the scriptures, its God’s will for us to be saved. True saving faith is Repentance.

a) What does that mean for me?
• God desires I repent and be saved. To be in the will of God I must first repent and be saved from my sin.
• God desires that I share this truth also with others.
• God loves for me to pray for others to be saved as well.
b) What does it mean for my church?
• God desires my church to reach the lost as well, to pray for the lost, to share my story with the lost.

Police searched hard for the stolen VW. The reason was not because of the theft, but what was in the front seat…crackers. Because the old VW bug had become a 2nd home for mice, the couple had placed crackers on the front seat, laced with rat poison. The police were desperately searching for the perp because of the danger to himself.
Point: This is so like us! Many people turn and run from God thinking they are ok, all the while when God is trying to rescue them from themselves. To be in the “will of God” you must be saved! Salvation is the first step in all change.

2) Sacrifice
Romans 12:1-2:
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

What does that look like?
It is said that on his retreat from Greece after his great military expedition there, King Xerxes boarded a Phoenician ship along with a number of his Persian troops. But a fearful storm came up, and the captain told Xerxes there was no hope unless the ship's load was substantially lightened. The king turned to his fellow Persians on deck and said, "It is on you that my safety depends. Now let some of you show your regard for your king." A number of the men bowed to Xerxes and threw themselves overboard! Lightened of its load, the ship made it safely to harbor. Xerxes immediately ordered that a golden crown be given to the pilot for preserving the king's life -- then ordered the man beheaded for causing the loss of so many Persian lives!

Xerxes was a mad man! Yet his men were yielded to him even to the point of death.

You and I are to be yielded to God. Our bodies are to be yielded to him. That is our sacrifice.
• A yielded mind – are my thoughts given over to God?
• A yielded body – Is all my lust and passion and attractions given over to God?
• A yielded emotion – All that frustrates me, all my anger, all my worry – given to God?
This is the will of God that we sacrifice ourselves to him.

Point: When looking for the will of God, start with sacrificing your needs for HIS will.

3) Spirit-controlled:
Eph. 5:17-21:
17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

We are called to filled with the Spirit. See it there in verse 18? This isn’t the Baptism of, (that’s at salvation) or being sealed by, (again salvation)…this is in the present tense. Its to be done daily. Notice we are not to filled with other things – like being under control of wine. (v. 17) Being drunk with wine means to be controlled by it in speech, body, mind, and emotions. We’ve all seen someone who has been there. We are to be filled with the Spirit. We can do nothing on our own as Christians. We are like empty gloves. Not able to lift anything, not able to do anything at all. But fill us with the Spirit! Look out. The results are in the verses to follow – Notice:
• Singing and playing music to God - v.19
• Giving thanks for who God is and what he has done – v.20
• Humbly submitting to others and God – v.21

Point – Being filled with the Spirit is God’s will. It pours out of us in this way: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and self-control…(Gal. 5:22-24)

Knowing God’s will isn’t some great mystery. It begins by being Saved. It continues by Sacrificing our bodies to God. The knowing of God’s will comes by being Spirit-filled…and that is just the beginning. Next week, 3 more…

The Will - Part 2

The Will…
Tonight I want to look at one element of finding the will of God and that's SANCTIFICATION. 

The Christian life begins with a step - a step of faith.  That step leads to a walk, and that's progress!  But every walk needs strength to do the task.

(Illustration - Going to the gym this morning.  Didn't want too…took 3 hours to get my butt there…but once there I felt good that I went. I knew I needed to go…it makes me healthy…I just needed to start in that direction.)

Title of today's message is: 
3 ways I walk in Sanctification and find God's will. (1 Thess. 4:1-5

Say it is a sentence:
 "when I want to know the will of God I must walk in holiness; things that are not in line with that are not his will."

SO :
1) When I walk in Sanctification (holiness) I please God.  v. 1
All of us please something, some how and some way. We please ourself, or others, or we please God.  On occasion, we please others and God by what we do.  If I want to know the will of God, I must please him.  Verse 1 says "…we URGE and EXHORT you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received instruction from us as to how you ought to walk and PLEASE GOD…that you excel more."  The real problem is that we want to please Ourselves more than we ought to.    God wants us to be pleasing him.  Look at what he says in Rm 15:1 "bear the weakness of those w/o strength and not just please ourselves…" and Gal. 1:10 "if I please man I should not be the servant of God…"  Strong word.  But if we want to know the will of God - start with pleasing him. 
How do I do that? 1) Listen to God's Spirit as he works in you. 2) Read his book, his holy word and devour it.  Jer. 15:16 - Your word was found and I ate it and it became a JOY and DELIGHT to my soul.  READ It. 3) Worship Him privately and publicly like he was right there in front of you! (because he is)
2) When I walk in Sanctification (holiness)…I Obey Him vv.2-3
I obey him specifically in the area of Sexual immorality.  Paul is writing to a people who were saved from the cultic practice of sex worship of their deity.  Orgies and homosexuality were the common way the people worshipped. Paul was saying, NOT YOU!  You are to be sanctified.  Sanctification is to be SET APART.  Because we are followers of God we are to set apart our minds and bodies from sexual lust.  Our day is not much different.  we have repackaged sexual worship and blasted it all over the internet and in TV and Magazines.  But Obedience in this are is important.  Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.  He lives in us and isn't leaving.  What we do he sees, where we go, he goes.  It might hurt to leave sin behind, but if you want to know the will of God, we must obey.
3) When I walk in Sanctification (holiness)…I glorify God vv. 4-5
When we came to Christ, Everything we do now has meaning.  Everything is to bring Glory to God. (2 Cor. 4:7 - Of GOD and not OURSELVES)  Paul is reminding us that all we do has a result.  If it is in God's will - GLORY…if it's not - GRIEF.

Here is what the point is:
1 - As we are seeking God's will our WALK must be progressive.  That is the beauty of Sanctification.  It is changing us to be more like the image of Jesus Christ.  Not all at once, but daily, moment by moment, hour by hour.
? - Is this week better spiritually than last - why not?  Be dead to sin and Alive to Jesus Christ.   Is this YEAR been better than last year?  Why not?

2 - When you are looking and praying for God's will, sanctification says you will find it if what you are doing and where you are going is PLEASING TO GOD, DONE IN OBEDIENCE TO GOD, and GLORIFYING to God.

5G - Live it!