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Here are the completed notes from the Sunday Morning Service March 13, 2016:

Scripture:
The Apostle Peter’s past – Luke 22:54-62
The Apostle Paul’s past – Acts 22:4

Why Let Go of the Past:

• You are living in a time that no longer exists
• Looking behind hinders moving ahead

The Past Haunts Us in the Following Areas:

1. Failure from the Past

• Missed Opportunities
• Hurt you caused some else

“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”  -Philippians 3:13-14

2. Guilt from the Past

• Missed Opportunities
• Sin

“He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.  For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.  As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”  -Psalms 103:10-12

3. Hurt / Wounds from the Past

• Words
• Rejection
• Betrayal
• “Scars remind us of where we have been.  They don’t have to dictate where we are going.”

4. Bitterness / Unforgiveness still there from the Past

“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”  -Ephesians 4:31

• Bitterness = Smoldering resentment
  • “Bitterness is like a poison that you prepare for someone else and then drink yourself.”
• Unforgiveness = Not releasing a debt or perceived debt owed
  • “We did nothing to earn our forgiveness.  Then we cannot make others earn our forgiveness.”

5. Defeated Living Because of the Past
Tried so many times to change to no avail

“For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.”  -Proverbs 24:16

Steps to Letting Go of the Past:

1. Understand that through Christ you no longer have to be in bondage to the past

• Born Again – 1 Peter 1:23
• New Creation in Christ – 2 Corinthians 5:17

2. Refocus your attention to God’s Truth
We need to remember that looking back is actually looking away from God and our future.

“I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.”  -1 John 2:12

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  -1 John 1:9

3. Take your past to God and leave it with Him

“God only looks at your future because He’s canceled out your past”. – Karon Phillips Goodman

4. Resolve open issues when possible
Example of conflict / offences

“The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.”  -Proverbs 19:11

“Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.  And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.”  -Luke 17:3-4

“Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.  But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.  And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.”  -Matthew 18:15-17

“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”  -Galatians 6:1

5. Stop replaying the past
Choosing to hold on to the past and pain is by default choosing to let go of God’s peace and our potential.

6. Ask God to protect your heart and mind

“Our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.” – James Rinehart

“Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”  -Ephesians 6: 16-18

Here are the completed notes from the Sunday Morning Worship Service March 6, 2016:

Where Will You Spend Eternity?
You Cannot Afford to be Wrong!

Scripture: Luke 12:15-21
Matthew 10:28 – “Fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell”

1. The Established Truth of Heaven and Hell

A. Heaven

• Heaven is a literal place
• Scripture testifies to the existence of Heaven
• Jesus testified to the existence of Heaven

B. Hell

• Hell is a Literal Place
• Scripture testifies to the existence of Hell – Revelation 20:15
• Jesus believed in Hell and warned of its existence – Luke 12:5; Matthew 23:33
• Jesus died an excruciating death to provide a way of escape for us so we would not have to experience it
• No amount of denying Hell will change its existence

The Description of Hell

10 Characteristics of Hell

1. Immediate – Luke 16:22, 23
2. Torments – Luke 16: 23, 24
3. No relief – Luke 16:24-26
4. Thirst – Luke 16:24
5. Unquenchable fire – Luke 16:24b; Matthew 13:42; Matthew 25:41
6. Remembrance – Luke 16:25
7. No escape for all eternity – Luke 16:26; Matthew 25:46; Rev. 19:20; 20:10
8. Outer Darkness – Matthew 8:12
9. Weeping and gnashing of teeth – Matthew 8:12
10. Undiluted wrath of God for eternity – Revelation 14:10, 11

The Proximity of Hell

• Luke 16:22, 23 – Hell is immediate (Psalm 73:17, 18)
• The lost walk in slippery place over this burning Hell (Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God – By: Jonathan Edwards)
• The lost are always exposed to sudden unexpected judgment. As the lost walk in slippery places every moment liable to fall, he cannot foresee one moment whether he shall stand or fall the next; and when he does fall, he falls at once without warning.

2. How People Will Miss Heaven and End Up in Hell

8 Ways People Will Miss Heaven:

1- Unclear or inaccurate message – Acts 8:30, 31

2- Stay as they are – John 3:16
Dead in trespasses and sins – Ephesians 2:1

3- Ignore preparing for eternity – Luke 12:15-21 (our text)
Facebook Post:

• Too young to think about God
• Too self-sufficient to think about God
• Too much happy to think about God
• Too busy to thin about God
• Too tired to think about God
• Too late to think about God

4- Trust in the wrong object – John 14:6

Self

• Good deeds
• Keeping the commandments
• Baptism
• Name on a church membership roll
• Receiving Communion
• Prayer
• Christian heritage
• Religion brought up in

5- Failure to repent – Luke 13:3
I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Acts 3:18, 19
18But those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
19Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

• People want their sin more than they want a Savior
• People want a Savior but not a Lord

6- Unbelief – John 3:18

• Agnostic
• Atheist
• Not really given it much thought

7- Sticking to a conversion experience
Sticking to a conversion experience rather than considering what God’s Word clearly says

8- Pride – Proverbs 16:18a
a. Pride led to the fall of Satan – Isaiah 14:12-14 (1Timothy 3:6)
b. Pride was a key ingredient in the fall of man – Genesis 3:6
c. Pride was a choice weapon used of Satan in His attack upon Jesus – Matt. 4:5, 6
d. Pride is a part of the world’s system – 1 John 2:15, 16
e. God hates a “proud look” – Proverbs 6:17
f. Pride shall abound in the last days – 2 Timothy 3:2
g. Keeps people out of Heaven
Proverbs 16:18a – “Pride goeth before destruction”

• Pride keeps you from seeing yourself as a sinner
• Seeing yourself as hopeless and helpless without Christ
• Responding to the invitation and come to Christ

3. The Eternal Life Giving Message of the Gospel

Facebook post: “There’s a whole world of people that need to hear the true gospel and many of them are in the churches.”

Based upon God’s Word, a person can absolutely know for sure if he or she has eternal life and is going to heaven
1 John 5:12, 13
He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

• Gospel means Good News
• That’s what I want to share with you today – Good News, but first the bad

A. Understand all have sinned – this includes you!
Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”
Because of your sin you are separated from God and facing eternal punishment
Romans 6:23a – “For the wages of sin is death”
Revelation 20:14 – And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

B. Understand that you cannot earn God’s forgiveness by being good
Ephesians 2:8, 9
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

James 2:10
“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”

C. Eternal life is only through Jesus Christ
Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
John 14:6
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

D. Believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin, was buried and that He arose again
John 3:16-18, 36
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

Romans 5:8
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

1 Corinthians 15:3, 4
“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”

E. Receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior
John 1:11, 12 – “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”
Romans 10:9, 10 – “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

F. Right Now, where you are, you can receive Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior
Romans 10:13
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

• Are you willing to repent of your sin and pray to receive the Jesus and His work on the cross for your forgiveness?
• Tell God you believe in His Son Jesus and that you believe He died for you and rose again.
• Tell God you are willing to turn from your sin and that you are personally receiving His gift of eternal life through the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you would like some help making it personal, you can pray this prayer, but mean it. You will be talking to God not just reading words. Make this prayer your own:

This is the most important decision you will ever make!
Be sincere, God knows your heart.

Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. (Romans 3:23)
I believe Jesus died on the cross to pay for my sins, was buried and
arose again. (Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3, 4)
I now turn from my sin and accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. (John 3:16-18)
God, please forgive me and save me. (Romans 10:13)
In Jesus’ name I pray and ask. Amen.

If you have just received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, please let us know so we can rejoice with you and get you some information to help you get started right in your new relationship with God!

Here are the completed notes from the Sunday AM Service February 28, 2016:

Introduction:

It can go against our grain to be told we must do some thing

Scripture: John 3:1-21

Jesus meets with a religious leaders named Nicodemus and tells him in order to be saved, all must be born again (including Nicodemus himself)

1. The man and his background (vs.1)

Nicodemus – A Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews
Pharisees (separated ones) – A religious and political party in Palestine in New Testament times.

• Legalistic fundamentalists of Judaism, whose zeal to apply the OT scriptures directly to life led to a complex system of tradition and works.
• Many Priests, Levites, Lawyers and Scribes were Pharisees – John 1:19, 24; 3:1; Acts 5:34; 23:9

Characteristics of the Pharisees:
A. The strict observers of the Mosaic rituals and zealous of the law – Acts
26:5 (Strictly held to tradition and OT law
B. Outwardly moral and self-righteous – Luke 6:15; 18:11
C. Their opinions, were a standard for others – John 7:47, 48
D. Lack of compassion for sinners – Luke 7:36-39
E. Hypocrites – Matthew 15:7, 8 (their hearts did not match their outward appearance)
F. Sought to destroy Jesus – Matthew 12:14
“A ruler of the Jews” – A member of the Sanhedrin, the governing council of Israel (ultimately under the authority of Rome)

• It consisted of 70 members and was presided over by the reigning high priest
• They exercised a wide range of powers in civil, criminal, and religious matters

Deuteronomy 27:26
Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.
Failure to keep the law brings Divine judgment and condemnation – See James 2:10

• The law demands obedience
• The law exposes our sin – the law doesn’t make us sinners but it reveals the fact that we are sinners

2. Nicodemus states his understanding of Jesus identity (vs.2)

“Rabbi” – master (addresses Jesus with great respect)

• Shows Nicodemus inadequate comprehension of who Jesus is

“A teacher come from God” – not as David Jeremiah states, “God come to teach”
“Miracles”
“God be with him”
Nicodemus acknowledges that Jesus is a Rabbi, that he come from God because of the miracles, and that God was with him

3. Jesus response to Nicodemus (vs.3)

Jesus answered . . .
“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”
“Born again” – Lit. born from above or be born anew
Regeneration: The act of God that gives eternal life to those “dead in trespasses and sin” as they believe in Christ

4. The confusion of Nicodemus (vs.4, 9)

Nicodemus confuses spiritual birth with physical birth

5. Jesus clarification of the new birth (vs.5-15)

A. A physical illustration – vs.5, 6
Vs. 5 – “Born of water”

• Baptism (Salvation is by grace not works – Ephesians 2:8, 9)
• Water of the natural birth
• The Word of God – Ephesians 5:26, 1 Peter 1:23
• Repentance (as preached by John the Baptist)
• OT truth about spiritual renewal and cleansing – Ezek. 36:24-27

B. A reiteration – vs.7
“Ye must” – An absolute – “Ye must be born again”
C. A natural illustration – vs. 8

• Just as you don’t see the wind, you see the effects of the wind

D. A Scriptural illustration – vs.14-15
Reference to Numbers 21:5-9

5And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. 6And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
7Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. 8And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 9And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

See John 12:32, 33

6. Concluding Truth (vs.16-21)

Jesus summaries both the subjects of salvation and condemnation Vs. 16

• God’s motivation for sending His Son – “So loved”
• The object of God’s love – “the world”
• God’s love displayed – “that He gave His only begotten Son”
• The beneficiaries – “whosoever believeth in Him”

Vs. 17
The purpose –
Not to condemn the world (17a)
To save whosoever will (17b)

Vs. 18-21
He that believeth is not condemned (vs. 18a)
He that believeth not is condemned already (vs.18b)

Vs. 19
Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil

• The most fundamental reason people reject Jesus is that they don’t want to change

Whatever happened to Nicodemus? Remember he was a seeker of truth
He eventually came to believe in Jesus – Evidenced by

• Rebuked the Pharisees for condemning Jesus without hearing Him – John 7:50, 51
• Helped bury Jesus – John 19:38-42

Here are the completed notes from the Sunday AM Service February 21, 2016:

Scripture: John 13:34, 35

Vs. 34 – A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another;
as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Vs. 35 – By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples,
if ye have love one to another.

Who is Jesus speaking to? His 11 disciples (Judas has left-vs. 31)

What is the occasion of this passage?

• After celebrating the Passover meal (vs.2)
• Jesus has washed the disciple’s feet (vs.3-17)
• Jesus announced that one of them would betray Him (vs. 18-27)
• Judas left to betray Jesus (vs. 27-31)
• Dispute or rivalry among the disciples over who would be greatest (See Luke 22:24)
• Jesus just spoke about going away (vs.33)
• Jesus gives His disciples a new commandment (vs. 34, 35)
• Vs. 34 – A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
• Vs. 35 – By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

This command in one sense was not new:
-Leviticus 19:18 – Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself:  I am the LORD.

Jesus affirmed this in Matthew 22:36-40

• Vs. 36 – Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
• Vs. 37 – Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
• Vs. 38 – This is the first and great commandment.
• Vs. 39 – And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
• Vs. 40 – On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

“Neighbor” – Whoever is beside you at the moment (Darrell Painter)

Love others!

But this really is a new commandment – Notice how they are to love, “As I have loved you”

• Jesus here raised the standard
• He took how we are to love to a whole new level

Again, who is Jesus speaking to? His 11 disciples

Vs. 34 – A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
How did Jesus love His Disciples?
Consider the word Love –

• Sacrificial – giving of ourselves
• Unconditional – He loved the church as it was
• Purposefully – Love depends on the one who chooses to love
• Not based on attractiveness, merit or the response of the one loved

God’s Word gives a detailed description of this love in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8a (ESV)

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful, it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”

Description Broken Down:

• Patient
• Kind
• Envies not
• Does not brag
• Not arrogant
• Never rude
• Does not want its own way
• Not irritated or angered in personal offence
• Devoted to truth
• Protects, believes, hopes and endures
• Lasting and has permanence

Consider how Jesus loved these disciples and how that translates to how we should love one another as a church
Jesus loved His Disciples by:

1. Spending time with them
Mark 3:14 – And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach

The Local Church:

• Believers are not to forsake assembling together – Hebrews 10:25
• Invest their lives in one another

2. Telling them the truth
Jesus said to Pilate – For this cause came I unto the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth (John 18:37).

The Local Church:
Believers are to speak the truth in love – Ephesians 4:15

3. Pointing them to the Father

• Priority relationship
• Love relationship – John 14:31
• Glorifying objective – John 12:28; John 17:1, 4

The Local Church:
Pointing others to God is foundational in everything we do

4. Modeling authentic godliness before them (Example)

• John 13:13-17

The Local Church:
Overflow of our relationship with Christ and growth in Christlikeness

5. Correction

• Peter rebuked by Jesus – Matthew 16:21-23
• James and John rebuked by Jesus – Luke 9:51-56

The Local Church:
Believers are to correct one another in humility – Galatians 6:1

6. Prayer
John 17:11-19; Luke 22:32

The Local Church:
Believers are to pray for one another – James 5:16; 1 Timothy 2:1

7. Patience and Support

• They lacked spiritual understanding – Matthew 15:16, 17; 16:9
• They lacked humility – Matthew 20:20-28; Luke 9:46
• They lacked faith – Matthew 8:26, 16:8
• They lacked commitment – Mark 14:50

The Local Church:
Overlook the faults of others – Proverbs 19:11

8. Commitment
John 13:1 – Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

The Local Church:
Commitment of church membership

1. Commitment up front – you bind yourself to a group of Christians
2. Through baptism a person is making a public, upfront commitment to follow Christ – Church membership attaches that general commitment to follow Christ to a specific group of people
3. Authentic church community is bound up in something people don’t realize: Church membership

9. Moving them toward their mission

• The disciples witnessed firsthand how Jesus ministered to people
• He commissioned them to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth – Acts 1:8

The Local Church:

• Pastors are given to equip believers for the work of the ministry –Ephesians 4:11
• Believers are to exercise their spiritual gifts through the church –1 Peter 4:10, 11
• And also work together to fulfill the great commission – Matthew 28:19, 20

10. Sacrifice
Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour

The Local Church:

• Move outside our comfort zones for one another
• Forgive one another
• Giving of your time, resources, gifts and abilities for the furtherance of the ministry of this local church

Consider the Disciples Previous Occupations:

• Fishermen
• Tax Collector
• Zealot (Resisted Roman aggression, freedom fighters, extremists, refused to pay taxes to Rome)

Vs. 35 – By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another

Believer’s I.D. Badge as an authentic Christ follower