Do You Want to Get Well?

Wonderful Counselor Series
Matt Shires, Speaker

Focus: There is always hope to be made whole through Jesus.

"The life to which we are accustomed holds us more than the life we long for. "

38 years equals 13,870 days!

I. The situation is never HOPELESS

II. He requires our PARTICIPATION

III. God gives us what we need to change our OUR DESIRES

IV. God gives us what we need to change our OUR ACTIONS

WE GET STUCK. JESUS CHANGES THAT. HOPE LOVE MERCY RESTORATION HEALING

God wants his people to be healed and restored - SET FREE!

Jesus can change you when you encounter him.

““The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭4:18‬ ‭NIV‬‬
http://bible.com/111/luk.4.18.niv

“Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.

One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ” So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?” The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well. So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.””
‭‭John‬ ‭5:1-3, 5-17‬ ‭NIV‬‬
http://bible.com/111/jhn.5.1-3,5-17.niv

“For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.”
‭‭John‬ ‭5:4‬ ‭KJV‬‬
http://bible.com/1/jhn.5.4.kjv

“for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2:13‬ ‭NIV‬‬
http://bible.com/111/php.2.13.niv

Do You Believe That I Am Able to Do This?

Wonderful Counselor Series
Doug Freeman, Speaker

“As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭9:27-31‬ ‭NIV‬‬
http://bible.com/111/mat.9.27-31.niv

Focus: God honoring faith moves the heart of God.

God Honors:

Faith that BELIEVES, even when it does not see.

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11:1‬ ‭NIV‬‬
http://bible.com/111/heb.11.1.niv

Faith that PERSEVERES when nothing changes.

“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ ” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?””
‭‭Luke‬ ‭18:1-8‬ ‭NIV‬‬
http://bible.com/111/luk.18.1-8.niv

Faith that is DEMONSTRATED by action.

“You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.”
‭‭James‬ ‭2:20-24‬ ‭NIV‬‬
http://bible.com/111/jas.2.20-24.niv

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11:6‬ ‭NIV‬‬
http://bible.com/111/heb.11.6.niv

Why are you so Afraid?

Why are you so Afraid?
Speaker - Doug Bridge

Focus: How do we see the storms of life?

God's PRESENCE in a storm.

God's PURPOSE in a storm.

My RESPONSE in a storm.

“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. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!””
‭‭Mark‬ ‭4:35-41‬ ‭NIV‬‬
http://bible.com/111/mrk.4.35-41.niv

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
‭‭John‬ ‭16:33‬ ‭NIV‬‬
http://bible.com/111/jhn.16.33.niv

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭46:1‬ ‭NIV‬‬
http://bible.com/111/psa.46.1.niv

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.””
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭13:5‬ ‭NIV‬‬
http://bible.com/111/heb.13.5.niv

“The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭23:1-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬
http://bible.com/111/psa.23.1-6.niv

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
‭‭James‬ ‭1:2-4‬ ‭NIV‬‬
http://bible.com/111/jas.1.2-4.niv

The Root of All Evil

The Root of All Evil
Distorted Series, Sep 3, 2017
Jim Hammond, Speaker

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭6:10‬ ‭NIV‬‬
http://bible.com/111/1ti.6.10.niv

“Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.”
‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭5:10‬ ‭NIV‬‬
http://bible.com/111/ecc.5.10.niv

“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”
‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭6:17‬ ‭NIV‬‬
http://bible.com/111/1ti.6.17.niv

“but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭4:19‬ ‭NIV‬‬
http://bible.com/111/mrk.4.19.niv

Focus: If you love money you will not be satisfied with more money because with more your appetite increases.

How to interpret scripture
Understand the CONTEXT
Interpret the BIBLE with the BIBLE
APPLY what you LEARN

The big theme is not MONEY but GODLINESS
CONTENTMENT (happy with what they have) makes a poor person rich and DISCONTENTMENT (unhappy with what they don't have) makes a rich person poor
Escape the CHOKE HOLD