Sunday, May 19, 2013

May 19



Philippians 4:8-9

English Standard Version (ESV)
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

May 12



Philippians 4:4-7

English Standard Version (ESV)
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Abound: Their End



Text
Beware the Enemies of the Cross

Philippians 3:17-19

English Standard Version (ESV)
17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. 18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.


Context
Abounding Love & Broken Hearts

Matthew 5:43-48

English Standard Version (ESV)

Love Your Enemies

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you,Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.


Connect
Keep Your Eyes...

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Pressing On

Pressing On
Philippians 3:12-16

Most Christians are looking for ways to have verbal agreement with what God says, as long as He allows us to stay land-locked. No risk...no threat...no change to what we have been doing.

Here is an attitude check.

Keep in mind what he's written about. Here are just a few highlights.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)

Paul has set the stage. He's saying it's time to move ahead, press on, advancing the Father's plan and desires. The target is "the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Let me give you some practical advice which comes from this message.

First, God's People Respect the Past, They don't live in it.

They forget (read: they don't get trapped in the events of the past) ie. An example is Eurodia and Syntyche.

There are always two kinds of people in the church:
  1. Those who have Christ's mindset and want the best for others and
  2. Others who want the best for themselves. Christianity for some is just a means of getting ahead in this world.

Some hang onto the hurts of the past and their ways of doing things, their idols either physical or mental. Hebrews 6:1 provides us an excellent transition here. What is it that you seem to want to retreat backwards to?

Some reach forward (1 Corinthians 9:24) They purposeful run. What has you reaching ahead? In contrast, all of our training motivates us to the upward call.

We need to remember what God has called us to do.

Secondly, Our Attitude reflects the Standard we have already set...

Consider Paul's insight in verse 15. If you have the right attitude and the right standard, simply put... "God will confirm it." If you don't, he will confirm that as well.

Luke 9:62, "No one after putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God."

Our Calling:


To elevate our standard is our calling. 
Whatever God is calling you to leave behind is nothing so dear as what he is calling you to do and to be.


Sunday, April 7, 2013

Adopt Heaven's Peace




Revelation 21:1-3

English Standard Version (ESV)

The New Heaven and the New Earth

21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

Revelation 22:1-4

English Standard Version (ESV)

The River of Life

22 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

1 Corinthians 15:55

English Standard Version (ESV)
55 “O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?”

Revelation 22:5

English Standard Version (ESV)
And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

2 Corinthians 5:17-19

English Standard Version (ESV)
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.


Sunday, March 24, 2013

Abound: Confidence?




Philippians 3:1-9

English Standard Version (ESV)

Righteousness Through Faith in Christ

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.
Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.

Psalm 49:5-9

English Standard Version (ESV)
Why should I fear in times of trouble,
    when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
those who trust in their wealth
    and boast of the abundance of their riches?
Truly no man can ransom another,
    or give to God the price of his life,
for the ransom of their life is costly
    and can never suffice,
that he should live on forever
    and never see the pit.


Acts 2:22-24

English Standard Version (ESV)
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.


Acts 2:36-39

English Standard Version (ESV)
36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Abound: Timothy's Proven Worth



Philippians 2:19-24

English Standard Version (ESV)

Timothy and Epaphroditus

19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. 20 For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. 23 I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, 24 and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Abound: To Will and To Work



Philippians 2:12-18

English Standard Version (ESV)

Lights in the World

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17 Even if I am to bepoured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

Psalm 2

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Reign of the Lord's Anointed

Why do the nations rage[a]
    and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
    and the rulers take counsel together,
    against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
    and cast away their cords from us.”
He who sits in the heavens laughs;
    the Lord holds them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
    and terrify them in his fury, saying,
“As for me, I have set my King
    on Zion, my holy hill.”
I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
    today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
    and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break[b] them with a rod of iron
    and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
    be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
    and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son,
    lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
    for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Romans 12:3

English Standard Version (ESV)

Gifts of Grace

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.


Connecting With God

1. Read and Know the Word of God
2. Prayer
3. Counsel from Other Believers
4. Meditation

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Trust in God: Complaints to Comfort


Pastor Tony Pladies

The Challenge
Finding our way from the
Cavity of Complaints
to the
Comfort of Christ

Psalm 56

English Standard Version (ESV)

In God I Trust

To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.

56 Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;
    all day long an attacker oppresses me;
my enemies trample on me all day long,
    for many attack me proudly.
When I am afraid,
    put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
    in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
    What can flesh do to me?
All day long they injure my cause;
    all their thoughts are against me for evil.
They stir up strife, they lurk;
    they watch my steps,
    as they have waited for my life.
For their crime will they escape?
    In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!
You have kept count of my tossings;
    put my tears in your bottle.
    Are they not in your book?
Then my enemies will turn back
    in the day when I call.
    This I know, that God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
    in the Lord, whose word I praise,
11 in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
    What can man do to me?
12 I must perform my vows to you, O God;
    I will render thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered my soul from death,
    yes, my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God
    in the light of life.

Matthew 7:1-2

English Standard Version (ESV)

Judging Others

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.

Jeremiah 10:12

English Standard Version (ESV)
12 It is he who made the earth by his power,
    who established the world by his wisdom,
    and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.

John 14:6

English Standard Version (ESV)
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Matthew 19:26

English Standard Version (ESV)
26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”