Monday, August 30, 2010

Reflections From Sunday

This past Sunday at GFchurch we looked at "Living Life In The Spirit" as we walked through Romans 8. Scott Finch did a great job leading us in worship this past Sunday. If you were not able to be with us, you can catch the video of the service here at GatewayTV

We basically covered Romans 8: 1-17 this past Sunday and we will pick up the rest of Chapter 8 this week. Here are the verses we covered, as well as the rest of the chapter.

1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

5Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

9You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

12Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Future Glory

18I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that[i] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

22We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

More Than Conquerors

28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

31What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written:
"For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.



....chapter 7 of Romans asked "who shall deliver me'" Romans 8:2 says "Christ has already delivered me'"

....the law is just but it cannot justify, the law is holy bit it cannot sanctify-what the law could not do Jesus did

....God’s method of dealing with the flesh is not to change it but to condemn it(Rom.8:3) and crucify it (Gal.5:24; 2:20 and compare Rom.6:6)

....those who live in the flesh. live in hostility toward God

....those who live according to the Spirit find life and peace





......Don't forget about our discussion about Spiritual Disciplines 2 weeks ago. We hope you decide to pick one (or more) of these to begin training this week......


Worship

Meditation on Scripture

Prayer

Fasting

Making war against sin

Others before self

Submission

Service




Mark Your Calendars::


~September 12, 2010 Vision Sunday (notice this is a new date)

ConnectGroup Schedule::

TuesNite @ 7pm @ The Snow's
WedNite @ 7pm @ The Brown's
SunMorn @ 915am @ GFchurch (Youth)


I love our church
I love our people
I love what He is doing in us
I love what He is doing to us
I love what He is doing through us
I love that He is not done with us

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Reflections From Sunday

This past Sunday at GFchurch we looked at being "Enslaved To Christ". Zach Snow , one of our elders, walked through Hebrews 5 and then Romans 6. Scott Finch did a great job leading us in worship this past Sunday. If you were not able to be with us, you can catch the video of the service here at GatewayTV

Here are the scriptures that Zach covered Sunday morning. The list of Spiritual Disciplines that was shared is also below::

Hebrews 5

1Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. 3This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.

4No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was. 5So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him,
"You are my Son;
today I have become your Father.[a]"[b] 6And he says in another place,
"You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek."[c]

7During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.
Warning Against Falling Away
11We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.


Romans 6

Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

5If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

11In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
Slaves to Righteousness
15What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

19I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. 20When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[b] Christ Jesus our Lord.



Here is the list that Zach shared with the church about Spiritual Disciplines. We hope you decide to pick one (or more) of these to begin training this week.


Worship

Meditation on Scripture

Prayer

Fasting

Making war against sin

Others before self

Submission

Service




Mark Your Calendars::


~September 12, 2010 Vision Sunday (notice this is a new date)

ConnectGroup Schedule::

TuesNite @ 7pm @ The Snow's
WedNite @ 7pm @ The Brown's
SunMorn @ 915am @ GFchurch (Youth)


I love our church
I love our people
I love what He is doing in us
I love what He is doing to us
I love what He is doing through us
I love that He is not done with us

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Mid Week Reflections

This Sunday we looked at the final part of our series over The Beatitudes. It is a tremendous joy to serve along side the team here and I am always blessed to see what the Lord is doing in, to and through those who are a part of our community. Scott Finch and Susan Snowdid a great job leading us in worship this past Sunday. If you were not able to be with us, you can catch the video of the service here at GatewayTV

Here is what we looked at this past Sunday::
August 15, 2010~ The Beatitudes part9

Matthew 5
1When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.

2He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

3"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5"Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

6"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

7"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

8"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

10"Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for heirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11"Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

12"Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

* “You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom. Not only that, count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens, give a cheer even! For though they don’t like it it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And you know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.”

~The Message



The word for persecution is:
diōkō dee-o'-ko .....to pursue; ensue, “follow after” with the idea of inflicting some sort of suffering


The dictionary describes persecution as: to pursue with harassing or oppressive treatment, especially because of religion, race, or beliefs; harass persistently; to annoy or trouble persistently.


Persecution is to be expected.

(John 15:18-20) "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. (19) If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. (20) Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also."

The Apostle Paul puts it this way:

(2 Tim 3:12) In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted ...


* Jesus qualifies the persecution when He says it is because of righteousness and because of Him. The persecution He speaks of is like the saints of old who were burned at the stake or thrown to the lions simply because they claimed to be Christian. There were others who were beaten and mutilated simply because they would not stop preaching the gospel.


William Barclay writes, ―The penalties which a Christian had to suffer were terrible beyond description. All the world knows of the Christians who were flung to the lions or burned at the stake; but these were kindly deaths. Nero wrapped the Christians in pitch and set them alight, and used them as living torches to light his gardens. He sewed them in the skins of wild animals and set his hunting dogs upon them to tear them to death. They were tortured on the rack; they were scraped with pincers; molten lead was poured hissing upon them; red hot brass plates were affixed to the tenderest parts of their bodies; eyes were torn out; parts of their bodies were cut off and roasted before their eyes; their hands and feet were burned while cold water was poured over them to enlighten the agony.‖

* Those who are persecuted will suffer insults, lies, and all kinds of evils. This will not be a continual persecution, but Jesus does say “whenever”. It is the idea that as the believer continues to live a righteous life he will cross paths with those who will despise righteousness and persecute him. It is not as much the individual but the righteousness that people attack because it exposes their own sin.


* we are not alone in our persecution. Jesus explains that the prophets before us endured persecution as well. You are not a lonely sufferer for God, but a child in the midst of many who have suffered for the Savior. There is encouragement in company.

In the end, there is the blessing of those who are persecuted gaining the kingdom of heaven. Live righteously and take the persecution of the ungodly in stride because in the end, you will be given the kingdom of heaven.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18, ―For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.

The Apostle Paul knew an awful lot about suffering. Having seen it from both sides, he says that affliction "prepares" or "brings about" an eternal weight of glory. Jesus teaches us to rejoice and be glad in the midst of suffering for righteousness and for Jesus, because that very suffering will receive a very great compensation and a very great reward. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven!




Mark Your Calendars::

~August 21, 2010 Men's Breakfast
~August 20-21, 2010 Women of Faith Conf.
~September 12, 2010 Vision Sunday (notice this is a new date)

ConnectGroup Schedule::

TuesNite @ 7pm @ The Snow's
WedNite @ 7pm @ The Brown's
SunMorn @ 915am @ GFchurch


I love our church
I love our people
I love what He is doing in us
I love what He is doing to us
I love what He is doing through us
I love that He is not done with us

Monday, August 16, 2010

People Do Not Drift Towards Holiness

Here is a quote from Dan Carson::

"People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated."
— D.A. Carson


...There is not a lot to add to this

...Here are a few things to think about::
~Are we drifting towards compromise?
~Are we drifting towards disobedience?
~Are we drifting towards godlessness?

...Lord I pray for grace-driven efforts that lead us towards godliness, prayer, obedience, and delight in YOU!
...May we find our complete and utter satisfaction in YOU and in YOU alone!

Friday, August 13, 2010

Chapter 3 ~ Knowing An Being Known

Chapter 3 ~ Knowing An Being Known
J.I. Packer

"What were we made for? To know God. What aim should we set ourselves in life? To know God. What is the "eternal life" that Jesus gave? Knowledge of God. "this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" (John 17:3)
What is the best thing in life, bringing more joy, delight and contentment than anything else? Knowledge of God. "This is what the Lord says: 'Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me' " (Jer 9:23-24)
What, of all the states God ever sees man in, gives God most pleasure? Knowledge of himself. "I desired..... The knowledge of God more than burnt offerings," says God (Hos 6:6)

... This is not new information for us but what an awesome reminder of how we are created to be in an intimate relationship with our Creator.
... We were made for Him and for His glory
... May we boast only in Him and find our complete and utter satisfaction in our loving Savior
... Remember~ God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied with Him


Trent Brown, Lead Pastor
Gateway Fellowship

Sent from my iPhone

Monday, August 9, 2010

Great quote from John Stott

Great quote from John Stott

The church lies at the very center of the eternal purposes of God. It is not a divine afterthought. It is not an accident of history. On the contrary, the church is God's new community. For His purpose, conceived in past eternity, being worked out in history, and to be perfected in future eternity, is not just to save isolated individuals and so perpetuate our loneliness, but rather to build His church, that is, to call out of the world a people for His own glory


Trent Brown, Lead Pastor
Gateway Fellowship

Sent from my iPhone

Not just Social Action

Social involvement is not simply social action. It is a cohesive blend of action and evangelism. If our social actions don’t point to the gospel, they “are like a signpost pointing nowhere” (p 78). #totalchurch

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

We Need Humility

We Are Born Proud and Need Humility


Humility like this is one of the strongest evidences of the indwelling of the Spirit of God. We know nothing of humility by nature, for we are all born proud. To convince us of sin, to show us our own vileness and corruption, to put us in our right place, to make us lowly and self-abased–these are among the principal works which the Holy Spirit works in the soul of man. Few of our Lord’s sayings are so often repeated as the one which closes the parable of the Pharisee and Tax-collector–“Every one that exalts himself shall be abased, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.” (Luke 18:14.)
~J.C. Ryle