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Remembering

I shall remember the deeds of the LORD; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. Psalm 77:11

13th Anniversary
Celebrating God's Faithfulness

Real courage is applying God's faithfulness in the past to our dreams of the future, these will determine our decisions for the present.

And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise. Hebrews 11:39

The Dragnet

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away.  "So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 13:47-50

Your Sphere of Influence

• Matthew 5:13-16 - Salt & Light
  
• Matthew 28:18-20 – Missions Mandate
  
• Identify Your "Oikos" <NT Greek>
  
  • a person's extended household
    
  • your network of relationships
    
• Defining and recognizing your relational network - your sphere of influence

"What or who was responsible for your coming to Christ and the Church"?

The percentage of responses have been:
A special need 1-2%
Walk in 2-3%
Pastor 5-6%
Visitation 1-2%
Sunday School 4-5%
Evangelistic Crusade 0.5%
Church Program 2-3%
A friend or a relative 75-90%
{The Church Growth Institute survey asking over 14,000 people}

Go Forth, go forth,
into the ripened fields,
for they are white
unto harvest.

The time, the time,
for reaping is at hand,
for the souls of men
to be gathered in.

What was sown in tears
shall now be reaped in joy,
the Word of the Lord
shall not return void.

Cast out your nets
all ye fishers of men,
in the power of the Spirit
revival begins!

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Stewarding Life - Part 5
Who then is the faithful steward?
Luke 12:35-48

Jesus' parable is a warning!

• To be ready and faithful
  
• He is serious about stewardship
  
• "To whom much is given, much is required"
  
• We have received the gift of life, the promise of eternal life and the hope of abundant life.

And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth I Peter 1:17 NASB

A steward is one that utilizes and manages all the resources God provides for the glory of God and the betterment of God's creation.

Christ died to be our Savior and lives to be our Lord.

Lordship is defined in four words:

• Admit - sin and need of a Savior
  
• Submit - forsake sin and submit your life to God
  
• Commit - yourself and your way to the Lord each day
  
• Transmit - share His love and goodness with others

Thus speaketh Christ our Lord to us:
You call Me master and obey Me not.
You call Me light and see Me not.
You call Me the Way and walk Me not.
You call Me life and live Me not.
You call Me wise and follow Me not.
You call Me fair and love Me not.
You call Me rich and ask Me not.
You call Me eternal and seek Me not.
If I condemn thee, blame Me not.
Old engraving on a cathedral in Labeck, Germany

II Timothy 1:6-14

Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. II Corinthians 3:17-18

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Stewarding Life - Part 4
The 10/30 Window
Reaching the next generation

Stewarding the Body

• Steward - One to whose care or honor anything has been instructed
  
  • An overseer
    
  • "The Boss' Money"

Stewarding – It's not yours!

• You were bought at a price – 1 Corinthians 6:20
  
• This speaks to every area of your life
  
  • Money and possessions
    
  • Relationships
    
  • Your very life!

Many areas to steward the body

• The Mind (Phil 4:8)
  
• The Eyes (Psalms 101:3)
  
• The Mouth (James 3:1-12)

All things are lawful (1 Corinthians 6:12)

• We operate under a covenant of grace
  
• Things that are not expressly forbidden
  
• Church was taking forgiveness as a free ride
  
  • What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! – Romans 6:1

All things are not profitable (NASB)

• Exercising our Christian liberty should be done within the framework of stewarding what is not ours
  
• Real life issues can often seem unclear through scripture
  • Smoking and Alcohol
    
  • Types of movies to watch
    
  • When to start dating
    
  • What jobs to hold
• Decisions should be made both regarding the profit for us AND others
  
• Beware, lest somehow this liberty of yours becomes a stumbling block to those who are weak – 1 Cor. 8:9

I will not be dominated by any

• God is the only one to whom we should cede control in our lives
  
• Anything that attempts to usurp control in our lives is attempting to usurp control from God
  
  • "Whoever is thus subjected is not a freeman, but a servant of sin" (People's New Testament – B.W. Johnson)
• This includes things that may be harmless (in moderation) and acceptable
  
  • Food
    
  • Entertainment (TV & Movies, video games, sports, etc)
    
  • Jobs
    
  • Finances
    
  • Friendship

Food for the stomach (1 Corinthians 6:13)

• Self-Indulgence was accepted in their minds because food was made for the stomach.
  
  • When things are pleasurable and appropriate, it is often difficult to steward our bodies
• "If I am in danger of my belly and appetite, I will abstain" (Matthew Henry)
  
• If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit – Prov. 25:16
  
• And put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite – Prov. 23:2
• Self-indulgence will lead to more than just problems with the physical – Phil. 3:18-19
• Hebrews 12:16-17

The body is not for immorality

• Sexual immorality = fornication
  
  • Any sexual activity outside of marriage
    
  • "Porneia", where "pornography" finds its root
    
    • I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery – Mat. 5:29
• Though the body is not for this purpose, your body will always war against your spirit
  
  • The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another – Gal. 5:17
• Attempting to use Christian liberty, the Corinthian church had attempted to correlate the stomach's need for food with the body's natural desire for sex
• The stomach, and the food that feeds it, are temporal commodities, though created for each other
  
• The body of the redeemed, though temporal on earth, will live forever with God and is NOT created for sexual immorality
  
• As a steward of this body, we are to be in God's service in ALL that we do

God raised up the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:14)

• "It is an honor done to the body that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead: and it will be an honor to our bodies that they will be raised." – Matthew Henry
• Colossians 3:1
  • We were buried with Christ and as with Christ, have been resurrected into a new life

Your body is a members of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:15)

• We are all part of Christ's body, his Holy Temple, the dwelling place of His Holy Spirit
  • 1 Corinthians 6:19
  • Ephesians 1:22

Joined with a Harlot? (1 Corinthians 6:15 - 17)

• It is impossible to ignore the spiritual implications of the joining of two flesh
  
  • Genesis 2:24
    
• Beyond this issue, God's Spirit is dwelling in you in ALL you do…you are His!

Flee! (1 Corinthians 6:18)

• This is not a suggestion, but a command
  
• There is nothing to allow "a little", this is a command to flee all
  
  • I will set nothing wicked before my eyes – Psalms 101:3
  • The story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife – Genesis 39
• This is a philosophy to be practiced in ALL areas of stewarding our lives and bodies
  
  • I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave – 1 Cor. 9:27 (NIV)
  • Matthew 18:8-9

Immorality against your own body

• Proverbs 6:30-35

You were bought at a price! (1 Corinthians 6:20)

• As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our sins from us – Ps. 103:12
  
• It is the Holy Spirit alone, dwelling in us, that enables us to resist the flesh, which will forever war against the Spirit.

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Stewarding Life - Part 3
The Treasure

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21

Matthew 5:43-48

• "so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven?
  
• "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth I Peter 1:17

Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. II Corinthians 3:17-18

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

Our Motivation To Steward Life

• Biblical Prosperity
  • Lot's Loss
    
  • Genesis 13:1-6 ~ Blessed!
    
  • Genesis 13:10-11 ~ Greed
    
    • Not stewarding, but greedily fending for himself
      
  • Genesis 14 ~ Collateral damage
    
  • Genesis 19 ~ Deliverance

Covetousness is denounced by Jesus

• Stewardship is expected
• Luke 12:13-21
  
• Matthew 25:14-30
  
  • The Parable of the Talents
    
  • "Two dynamics that define and drive the modern American, affluence and personal peace, cash and comfort!" --- Francis Schaffer

Treasure

• II Corinthians 4:7 "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves"
  
• II Timothy 1:14 "Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you."

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Stewarding Life - Part 2
Rushing Through Life

Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. I Corinthians 4:1

And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth I Peter 1:17

Life Happens! – Stewarding Life Doesn't

• Proverbs 29:18a "Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained"
  
• Success: is knowing God's will and being right in the center of it.
  
• Rushing through life
  • Stop and Hear the Music
• Caught in the monotony
  
  • Like the geometrid caterpillar

Prayer of Jabez
Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!" So God granted him what he requested. I Chronicles 4:10

Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. II Corinthians 3:17-18