God with Us - In the Valley

""The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" (which means "God with us")." ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭1:23‬ ‭NIV‬‬ http://bible.com/111/mat.1.23.niv

Focus: God IS with us, ESPECIALLY when we are in the valley.

1. What's in your VALLEY?

"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." Psalm‬ ‭23:4‬ ‭NIV‬‬ http://bible.com/111/psa.23.4.niv

2. While it's often EASY to ENJOY our relationship with GOD on the  MOUNTAIN TOP, our relationship can GROW much DEEPER with GOD in the VALLEY.

"You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you. If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." ‭‭Psalm‬ ‭139:1-24‬ ‭NIV‬‬ http://bible.com/111/psa.139.1-24.niv

Bro, You Need a Bro!

Don't Do Life Alone Series 4/4

Jim Hammond 

Focus: What we want is to do whatever we want whenever we want to, but what we need is people who know us well and help us want more than that. 

I. The ALPHA MALE'S dream becomes a NIGHTMARE!

If you want to walk straight into danger & disaster, choose the path of isolation & independence. 

II. Have you given anyone ACCESS to you?

2 Samuel 11:1

III. If nobody has to you, eventually you will do something 

David and Bathsheba 

"In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, "She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite." Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, "I am pregnant." So David sent this word to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hittite." And Joab sent him to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house and wash your feet." So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master's servants and did not go down to his house. David was told, "Uriah did not go home." So he asked Uriah, "Haven't you just come from a military campaign? Why didn't you go home?" Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord's men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!" Then David said to him, "Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. At David's invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master's servants; he did not go home. In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it he wrote, "Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die." So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David's army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died. Joab sent David a full account of the battle. He instructed the messenger: "When you have finished giving the king this account of the battle, the king's anger may flare up, and he may ask you, 'Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn't you know they would shoot arrows from the wall? Who killed Abimelek son of Jerub-Besheth? Didn't a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?' If he asks you this, then say to him, 'Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.' " The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say. The messenger said to David, "The men overpowered us and came out against us in the open, but we drove them back to the entrance of the city gate. Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king's men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead." David told the messenger, "Say this to Joab: 'Don't let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.' Say this to encourage Joab." When Uriah's wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the LORD."

‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭11:1-27‬ ‭NIV‬‬

http://bible.com/111/2sa.11.1-27.niv

Trust the Process

Devine Direction Series 

Focus: In a difficult decision there are four stages in the process of following "Devine Direction ."

I. Spirit's PROMPTING. (Compelled)

"And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there." ‭‭Acts‬ ‭20:22‬ ‭NIV‬‬ http://bible.com/111/act.20.22.niv

II. Certain UNCERTAINTY. 

"Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path." ‭‭Psalm‬ ‭119:105‬ ‭NIV‬‬ http://bible.com/111/psa.119.105.niv

III. Predictable RESISTANCE. 

"I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me." ‭‭Acts‬ ‭20:23‬ ‭NIV‬‬ http://bible.com/111/act.20.23.niv

IV. Uncommon CONFIDENCE. 

"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace." ‭‭Acts‬ ‭20:24‬ ‭NIV‬‬ http://bible.com/111/act.20.24.niv

"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

"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." ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3:5-6‬ ‭NIV http://bible.com/111/pro.3.5-6.niv

Serving Makes a Difference

3/25/18 Doug Bridge

Focus: Serving makes a difference in many ways.

“Think about what we have in Christ: the encouragement he has brought us, the comfort of his love, our sharing in his Spirit, and the mercy and kindness he has shown us. If you enjoy these blessings, then do what will make my joy complete: Agree with each other, and show your love for each other. Be united in your goals and in the way you think. In whatever you do, don’t let selfishness or pride be your guide. Be humble, and honor others more than yourselves. Don’t be interested only in your own life, but care about the lives of others too. In your life together, think the way Christ Jesus thought.” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2:1-5‬ ‭ERV

I. SERVING makes a DIFFERENCE in the LIFE of the one BEING SERVED.

II. SERVING makes a DIFFERENCE in the LIFE of the one SERVING.

III. The DIFFERENCE serving makes is LIFE CHANGING.

Gospel Shaped Community

Don't Do Life Alone Series
Presenter: Matt Shires

"Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭10:19-25‬ ‭NIV‬‬

http://bible.com/111/heb.10.19-25.niv

Focus: Following Jesus was never meant to be an individual endeavor. 

I. Our tendency will always be toward INDIVIDUALISM. 

II. DRAW NEAR, HOLD FAST, CONSIDER:

   1. Consider how to SPUR (PROVOKE) EACH OTHER ON

   2. Consider how to STAY PRESENT 

   3. Consider how to ENCOURAGE 

III. Following Jesus includes understanding that we are now PART of the BODY 

⚙🇺🇸Mark

Imaginary Me - Don’t Do Life Alone Series

Don't Do Life Alone

1/14/18 Jim Hammond 

Imaginary Me

What do you want to be known for?

Focus: If I am always managing my image and people only know the imaginary me, I cannot grow. 

I. We all have gaps between what we want to be KNOWN FOR and who we REALLY ARE. 

   A. When we are IMAGINARY , all GROWTH stops. 

   B. If we have no place to GET REAL, we cannot find REAL HELP. 

   C. CONFESSION is acknowledging where we really are. 

II. In small groups we can learn to be REAL. 

Jesus-I AM

Jesus-I AM

Part 2 - I am the good shepherd. 

Focus: If you want the good life, follow the good shepherd!

"Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber."

John 10:1 NIV

http://bible.com/111/jhn.10.1.niv

"Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."

John 8:43-47 NIV

http://bible.com/111/jhn.8.43-47.niv

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

John 10:10 NIV

http://bible.com/111/jhn.10.10.niv

I. He GUIDES

"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."

Psalm 23:1-3 NIV

http://bible.com/111/psa.23.1-3.niv

"The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice.""

John 10:2-5 NIV

http://bible.com/111/jhn.10.2-5.niv

II. He PROVIDES

III. IF