17 Feb I Was Next | Part 1 “What’s Your Story?”
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Team Nights: Thursday, Feb 21. 6:30-9:00p. Bring your group and come out to learn something new and have some fun!
The Deep End Podcast: airs live Wednesdays @noon on Facebook @thedeependtv ! Text in your questions anonymously to (508) 316-9333 to have them addressed on the show. And you can catch up on past episodes anytime on our Deep End page or on our Youtube channel @ waterschurchmedia
Looking for your testimonies! If you have group wins to share, please email them to me! maparsons@waterschurch.org
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We offer two types of classes. Please familiarize yourself with what these classes are about. Feel free to sign up for one so you can better explain what they are to your group members.
Starting Point: What is Christianity all about? Is the Bible really more than just a book? Who is Jesus? No matter where we are in life, we all have questions. Starting Point is a great place to explore the faith and have safe and open discussions about some of life’s toughest questions.
Growth Track: In this 3 part class; Discover, Deepen, & Dedicate; you will get answers to the most frequently asked questions about Waters Church and have an opportunity to ask your own. This is the perfect place to get to know the “Why” behind the “What” of who we are as a church.
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I Was Next, A Look Back At The Gracious Hand Of God.
Key Verse: 1 Samuel 1 ESV
The theme of Who’s Next: There is always someone God wants us to go after. Just as Jesus left the 99 to go after the one.
BIG IDEA: Everyone here is here because someone cared enough to invite you, influence you, raise you, train you, teach you, preach to you, pay for a space to make room for you SO THAT YOU would know and experience eternal life.
Example: Someone paid money to make room for the seats we sit in.
We did not bring ourselves to Jesus, we are saved by grace. We did not earn it but God’s sovereign grace puts us in the right circumstances.
His disciples took these worlds very seriously. They knew it was not about being important. We our on a mission to see people who are far from God come to God. There is no life apart from Him.
Q. Who was the ‘someone’ in your life that is the reason you are serving the Lord today, what circumstances surrounded your eventual coming to Christ?
(For those groups that have members who have yet to give their life to Christ, you might ask ‘the reason you are seeking the Lord today’, what circumstances brought you here?).
SMALL MOMENTS CAN LEAD TO MASSIVE MOMENTS.
Example: Claudette Clovin, March 2, 1955, was sent to jail for refusing to move to the back of the bus. While in jail she prayed the Lord’s prayer and Psalm 23. She knew God was greater than this injustice. Nine months later Rosa Parks, inspired by Clovin, initiated the Civil Rights Movement. Claudette Clovin’s small moment led to a huge movement in the south.
You never know what will become of the next person you tell about Jesus.
It is not about the preacher, it is about who heard the message and what’s going to happen as God starts to work in them and change the world in the name of Jesus. There are people among us that are going to be used because of Him. We are not earning extra credit in heaven for being ‘religious’. It is not about trying harder. The word of God changes lives, destinies, families. See your story as part of God’s amazing story.
Q. What has God done with that ‘Next Person’ you have told about Jesus? How has God changed their life and used them for his glory?
(Hannah’s Story)
Hannah’s community was a women whose children she helped raise that were not her own and an egotistical husband.
Hannah did not let any of this hold her back. She steps up. Sometimes more trouble comes when you follow God.
1. YES, GOD CAN USE ALL THE HURTS, HARDSHIPS AND HANG-UPS IN YOUR LIFE FOR HIS BIG-PICTURE PURPOSE IN THE WORLD.
1 Samuel 1:15 ESV (Read above: I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord).
Everyday Hannah was reminded that she was not important and the hurt that came to her was on purpose. Would Hannah have prayed if she was not hurt? Don’t forfeit the purpose of pain. We should not let our circumstances define us, but we should pray and turn to God and let his power be our highest hope. There is hope and God wants to use us. He can use our hurts and hangups just as he uses our gifts and talents.
Q. How has God used hardships, hurts and or hang-ups for his glory?
2. YES, GOD WILL USE YOUR HOPES AND DESIRES FOR HIS BIG-PICTURE PURPOSE AS YOU SURRENDER TO HIS SERVICE.
God has a big-picture plan and it isn’t about becoming the best we can be or how to make our life’s dreams come true. We should pray ‘Your kingdom come, Your will be done’. We should not be asking God to bless what we are doing, but ask Him what He wants us to be doing and bless that. God has bigger desires and dreams for us but we have got to surrender our plans to him and let our dreams stem from that. We should be asking God what He wants us to do in this world.
She called herself a servant and submitted her life to God.
Surrender first…. DREAM second.
Look at Joseph’s life. He dreamed dreams that were from God, but it took 13 years for them to be fulfilled because Joseph needed to surrender to God’s purposes first.
(Hannah’s prayer)
Q. What dreams have you had that you may need to surrender to God’s purpose first before seeing them fulfilled?
3. YES, GOD CAN TAKE YOUR SMALL MOMENT OF SURRENDER TO MOVE THE WORLD IN LARGER WAYS THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE.
Hannah bore a son.
Q. What small moments of surrender were used in big ways in your life?
DECISION: I WAS NEXT IN JESUS MISSION AND IT MUST NOT STOP WITH ME.
PRAYER FOR EACH OTHER, THE LOST, NIGHT TO SHINE – WEATHER AND HEALTH OF VOLUNTEERS ETC., WOONSOCKET AS WE COME CLOSE TO SIGNING ON A LEASE TO A PERMANENT LOCATION AND OTHER UPCOMING CAMPUSES THE ROOF AS IT HAS SEVERAL LEAKS AND WILL COST MUCH $$ TO REPLACE , THE CHURCH, THE NATION AND LEADERS AND GUATEMALA MISSION.
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