29 Mar “A Closer Walk with God” | part two – ‘finding God’s way back to peace’
Key Verse: Psalm 46
ANNOUNCEMENTS
LEGACY OFFERING – POSTPONED
STAY CONNECTED: EVERYONE SHOULD BE SUBSCRIBED TO WATERSCHURCH YOUTUBE CHANNEL, INSTAGRAM AND/OR FACEBOOK PAGE
TUNE INTO WATERSCHURCH.TV FOR SCHEDULED EVENTS TO KEEP YOU INFORMED AND TO ENTERTAIN AND FOR YOUR KIDS TO TEACHINGS FROM WATERS KIDS
ALSO EVERYDAY AT 1:00P THERE WILL EITHER BE A LIVE SMALL GROUP OR SOMETHING ELSE LIFE GROUP RELATED
WATERSCHURCH.TV ALSO HAS LINKS TO GET HELP OR GIVE HELP.
MAKE SURE YOU AND YOUR MEMBERS ARE ON THE 41411 TEXT ALERT SYSTEM FOR UPDATES AND INFO – TEXT Waterschurch to 41411.
WE HAVE SET UP A TRIAGE-IF YOU CAN BRING NON-PERISHABLES, LOCAL GIFT CARDS, HAND SANITIZER, TOILET PAPER, CLEANING PRODUCTS, PLEASE DROP OFF TO THE OFFICE ENTRANCE MON-THURS BETWEEN 9:00 AND 4:00P
IF YOU NEED SUPPLIES, PLEASE FILL OUT THE. I CAN HELP AT WATERSCHURCH.TV.
ALL CLASSES ARE CHANGING TO BE DONE ONLINE – I WILL GET YOU THAT INFO
Waters Church Facebook Page now has groups set up for each campus and a group set up for Life Groups.
To join the groups, just go to the Waters Church FB page and go to groups and join the ones you want. Make sure you join the Life Group (group) so we can get people interested in joining a Life group. The Heach Coaches and I will be moderating the group and adding topics for discussion.
CLASSES; Baptism class is every 4th Sunday of the Month. at 11:30 / Growth Track runs the first 3 Sundays every month at 11:30 – this is a one and done registrants only need to attend one session / Starting Point runs every 1st and 3rd Sunday at 11:30 – details and descriptions can be found on the registrations which are located under Events on the HUB.
Tune into watershchurch.tv everyday at 9:00a starting Monday, March 30 for short devotional and prayer. We will be praying for certain things together as a church.
James 4:8 (ESV)
Three things from this passage:
1.This is an instruction in the word of God to come closer to Him. He is a loving gracious Father and wants us to be with Him.
2. When we step toward God he steps toward us. He responds to those who reach out to Him no matter how bad we think we are (like the Prodigal Son).
3. The ball is in our court. We have a relationship with God that is as close as we want it to be.
Pastoral concern: people opening their hearts to God because of this crisis and then when it’s over they will close them back up again.
Q. Do you only turn to God when crisis hits, how is your walk with God during good times?
Book of James: The “TEST” for TRUE FAITH.
We need a test for true Christianity. We will do a lot of damage to a lot of people if we live as CINO’s (Christians in Name Only).
Q. What kind of damage have you witnessed from one who said they were Christian but acted differently?
The Church Gathering typically has 2 kinds of people:
- SERVANTS of Christ
Servants of Christ are people (NOT perfect people) ready to repent and turn to God instantly. Their hearts are surrendered. They don’t always get it right, but know when they don’t obey by confessing it and repenting.
- OBSERVANTS of Christ
One who loves the idea of Jesus, one who loves to watch the Church in action. One who even loves the Bible, but approaching the Bible in a way that the Bible is talking to someone other than them. They love to observe Jesus and criticize others for not living like Jesus.
Q. What are some examples of you being a servant and an observant in your walk (have you criticized others for not living like Jesus, have you been a lover of God’s Word but not acted on it, etc.) ?
Tests to check ourselves:
Are you caring for widows and orphans, do you show partiality toward rich people? Is your faith without works? Do you believe in God, even demons believe in God, but that does not make us Christians. Are you taming your tongue or fighting, quarreling, and slandering? Do you honor people with your giving?
Finding God’s Way Back to Peace:
#1. I must ACKNOWLEDGE the PROBLEM is in ME.
James 4:1–6 (ESV)
James tells us the problem is in us. Our passions are at war in us. Adultery is trying to love two people at the same time and we should only love the one we are committed to. We have no peace because we are trying to love the world when we should be just loving God. God has more grace than our sin. The solution to spiritual adultery is to humble ourselves and realize the problem is in ourselves and the moment we do, He rushes in.
Q. What battles go on inside you that cause you not to have peace?
#2. I must let Christ CLEANSE me INSIDE and OUT.
James 4:7–9 (ESV)
James refuses to get ‘surfacey’ with God’s people. He tells us what God’s word says about sin. We need cleansing from the Father and this is only accomplished through submission, humility, and turning to Jesus.
America’S values are: BLAME them.
Q. Have you ever blamed others for being the reason you sin and how (maybe you blamed your spouse, parents, teachers, siblings, friends etc.)?
Matthew 4:17 (ESV)
This is why Jesus came, He came to die for our sins. It was not a cosmic accident, it was a cosmic destiny. He paid for our sins.
John 12:27 (ESV); 1 Peter 2:24 (ESV)
- All FEAR is the RESULT of SIN.
Sin is a force inside of us before it is an action outside of us.
In Genesis 3 – Adam was not afraid before sin came into the world.
B. Jesus came to TAKE AWAY our SIN.
C. We have PEACE with God through JESUS’ BLOOD.
The sacrificing in ancient times was a symbol saying only blood brings you peace but now the sacrifices are no more because Jesus is the final offering. He bore our punishment on the cross and now our sins are paid if full.
Romans 5:1 (ESV); 1 John 4:10,18 (ESV)
We need to truly surrender to God. When we know he is our Father, we know we are safe in his hands. There will be troubles but Jesus said take heart…He loves us with an everlasting love.
Q. Even though you have truly surrendered your life to God, do you still have trouble believing you are totally safe when trouble comes and why?
James 4:13–14 (ESV)
We need perspective. God is the Eternal One. Our life on this planet is not eternal. We are going to die. We need to surrender to God, we need to give him the rest of our days.
3. I must GIVE the Lord the REST of ME.
Because we don’t know our future, we need to settle our future now and give it to God.
James 4:15–16 (ESV)
When we say that our future, for better or worse, is His then He gives us His peace.
SALVATION means the Lord who took RESPONSIBILITY for my PAST has AUTHORITY over my FUTURE.
We need to know and believe that God is going to use this crisis or any crisis for our good. Let him have his way over our lives and let the healing balm of the Holy Spirit cleanse us.
Q. What testimonies can you share from this past week regarding this crisis?
Isaiah 26:3 (NLT)
We dont know what tomorrow brings but we can know the one that brings tomorrow to us.
No Comments