IMPORTANT OVER URGENT

Welcome to Verde Valley Christian Church
August 25, 2019  / / /  I Choose  / / /  Week 4-IMPORTANT OVER URGENT.
We are shaped by many factors: our genetics, experiences, relationships, perceptions, and beliefs, to name a few, but our CHOICES matter far more than we realize.
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Title: "IMPORTANT OVER URGENT"
Speaker: Jim Hammond
Series: I Choose

Reflect:

No matter what, time gets filled with something. 
What fills your time shapes your life.

QUESTION:

What important matters are you neglecting?

HOW TO CHOOSE THE IMPORTANT OVER THE URGENT

1.        Maintain Margin

Mark 1:45 (NIV)

  … Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.

Mark 3:20
Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat.

Mark 4:35-39
That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

REFLECT:

We have an enemy who will do all he can to keep you so exhausted and distracted you fail to do anything really important!

Mark 1:29-34
As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them. That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.

Mark 1:35
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

2.  Choose a TIME and PLACE daily appointment with GOD.

Mark 1:36-37
Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!"

3.  PRIORITIZE:  Ask God to help you.

Mark 1:38
Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come."

4.  Do FIRST What Matters MOST.

5.  Be PROACTIVE

6.  SCHEDULE the Important Stuff
•Use your calendar
    •Create artificial deadlines

Reflect:

The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule,
but to schedule your priorities

John 17:4
I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.

Dear Jesus,
You lived a short life here on earth yet accomplished the most important work of all. Thank You for valuing people so much.  Thank you for valuing me.  I want to live more like you.  I want to think more long-term and people-first.  Help me to refocus on what matters most.  Amen.

Discipline Over Regret

Verde Valley Christian Church
Aug 18 – 20, 2019

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Welcome to Verde Valley Christian Church
August 18, 2019 / / / I Choose / / / Week 3-Discipline Over Regret.
We are shaped by many factors: our genetics, experiences, relationships, perceptions, and beliefs, to name a few, but our CHOICES matter far more than we realize.
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Title: "Discipline Over Regret"
Speaker: Jim Hammond
Series: I Choose

About This Series:
We are shaped by many factors: our genetics, experiences, relationships, perceptions, and beliefs, to name a few. But our CHOICES matter far more than we realize.

I. Discipline chooses what you want MOST over what you want NOW.

Romans 7:15, 18-19, 24-25 (NLT)

I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate... I want to do what is right, but I can't. I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway... Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

3 OBSERVATIONS:

1. We tend to choose the easy route, and yet the easy route won't stay easy.
2. The reason we need a savior is that we cannot fix our own sin nature.
3. Jesus releases us from the trap of always choosing what we want now instead of what we want most.

REFLECT

Is what you want most also what God wants for you?
Are you trusting Jesus to help you?

II. Discipline chooses TRAINING where TRYING doesn't work.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Don't you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

REFLECT

Disciples are disciplined. It's the same root word.
Disciples of Jesus practice the disciplines of Jesus.
It's like saying, "Followers follow."

Philippians 2:12-13
Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

REFLECT

You need training to receive and experience what you want most.

Lord Jesus,
We need your saving work inside of us. You promised to give us what we need inside as we train in the disciplines you showed us. Thank you for giving us new desires and the power to do what pleases you, as we train with you. Amen.

Surrender Over Control

We are shaped by many factors: our genetics, experiences, relationships, perceptions, and beliefs, to name a few, but our CHOICES matter far more than we realize.
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Title: "Surrender Over Control"
Speaker: Matt Shires
Series: I Choose

James 4:1-17
What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don't they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don't have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can't get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don't have what you want because you don't ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don't get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure. You adulterers! Don't you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him. And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor. Don't speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God's law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you. God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor? Look here, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit." How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it's here a little while, then it's gone. What you ought to say is, "If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that." Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil. Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.

I. Are you controlling because of PRIDE?

Pride says, "I need to be in control because I know better."

1 Peter 5:6
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

II. Are you controlling because of FEAR?

Fear says, "I need to be in control because I know my needs better."

1 Peter 5:6-7
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

A follower says, "I can let go of control because you know better."

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

III. Three questions to ask:
1. Where am I holding too tightly?
2. Is this for me to control?
3. Is this God's plan or my plan?

Dear God,
I want to see more clearly how I am controlling my life in ways that aren't mine to control. Help me see how I can trust you more. Help me to do whatever you want me to do. Help me to go wherever you want me to go. Help me to be whoever you want me to be. I want to surrender to you.
Amen