The Basics of Life - A New Provision - 1 Cor 9:7-14

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A New Provision - Part 1

1.         Have you ever had the thought “if I only had a little more money, things would be better.”

a.    If we're honest, there’ve been times in our life when we felt like we just didn't have have enough money.

2.         While we’ve all had a moment or season where we felt that way, there are some who LIVE in that place.

a.    They’re always behind the eightball, always lacking, can never seem to get ahead.

b.    When a person is in that place, it’s easy to make the focus “needing more money,” but the question shouldn’t be “how can I get more money…”

c.    The question should be “Am I managing my income and assets in accordance with God’s principles?”

3.         FACT  Money IS IMPORTANT

a.    We need it to live.  We have to have it for the basic necessities of life:  Food, shelter, clothing.

b.    It can also be used to buy the non-necessities of life: our wants, which is where we can get in trouble!

c.    The way that we manage money is an indicator of our faith & our priorities.

d.    The way we spend our money reveals what is truly important to us. 

I recently watched a documentary about a drug addict in Las Vegas.  This man earned $150 per day panhandling, and spent it all on drugs, noting that he had probably given his drug dealer over $3000 in the past month. The man recognized that he could live in a decent apartment, and live a normal life with that money, but the reality was that his drugs were the most important thing in his life.

4.         My objective for the next few weeks is not to make anyone feel judged or guilty, but rather to be the voice of HOPE and LIFE to the person that may be struggling in this area.

a.    Reality:  God’s word gives us sound financial principles for our lives,

b.    And it we’ll simply align our lives with the principles God gives us, we can enjoy the blessings of God in our lives

c.    We will learn that being obedient brings a “Redemptive Result”

5.         Today - Firstborn and Firstfruit

The Basics of Life - A New Family

The Basics of Life – A New Family

Acts 2:41-47

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1.         Going to start out sharing a few data-points... Church Statistics - A recent study by the Barna group revealed some startling statistics… of those who responded:

a.    Those who say they attend church “regularly” has dropped from 43% in 2004 to 36% today, but that doesn’t tell the whole story….

b.    “Regular” church attendance used to mean 3 or more times per month,

c.    Today people consider themselves “regular church attenders who attend once every 4-6 weeks

2.         Looking at the future generation gives us an even less optimistic picture:

a.    Millennials (30 & under) only 20% feel church is important,

b.    45% of Millennials say church is NOT important

c.    and 35% actually have an anti-church stance.

3.         Of the reasons Millennials cite for not holding church to be important:

a.    35% say irrelevance, hypocrisy, moral failures by church leaders

b.    20% say they feel God is missing from church

c.    10% say they feel legitimate questions are not tolerated.

4.         NOTICE what they younger generation is NOT saying…

a.    Not saying that they don’t believe in God, or that they have no place for God in their lives…

b.    They’re saying that they have no place for church in their lives

5.         Last data point is what people who actually attend church say about the church they attend.  Of the people who attend regularly, they give the following reasons for attending church:

a.    44% want to be closer to God

b.    27% want to learn more about God

c.    20% say they want fellowship with other believers

6.         OK, so how is the church doing at meeting those expectations?

a.    44% want to be closer to God, only 20% actually feel closer to God

b.    20% want fellowship, only 10% of those who attend church say that they experience fellowship.

c.    27% say they want to learn more about God, only 6% say they actually learn more about God

What does all of this tell us? 

The Basics of Life - The New Spirit

The Basics of Life - Session 2

The New Spirit

Roman 8 / John 16

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But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8:9-11

1.         If our church were a community that lived on a remote island, and were ignorant of spiritual things, we’d never heard the gospel.

a.    And say a missionary airplane flew over, and dropped bibles to us, and we read them and became Christians, what would our lives be like?

b.    I believe, based on reading our bibles, we would expect that the Holy Spirit of God would be an integral and powerful part of our lives!

c.    We would expect our lives to be radically different from how we were before we became Christians

2.         If we look at God’s word, there are very clear declarations regarding the person and ministry of the Holy Spirit

a.    So the question is "I have new life, but does my life reflect the new life of Christ that is now in me?”