17 Sep Serving Saves Lives | Part 2 “Becoming the Christian the World Truly Needs”
Announcements:
ALL LOCATIONS – SERVE DAY SEPTEMBER 23, 2023
Check our events page and choose where you would like to serve! Follow this link to register:
Fall Alpha Schedule: go to waterschurch.org/alpha
- AB: TBD by Tuesday
- NA: Monday, Oct 9th
- SC: Thursday, Oct 12th
- WS: Thursday, Oct 12th
NORTH ATTLEBORO: SATURDAY NIGHTS BACK SEPTEMBER 30! 5:00 PM
IF YOUR GROUP IS INTERESTED IN SERVING THAT PROVIDENCE RESCUE MISSION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24TH PLEASE REACH OUT TO FRANK FLODIN. WE NEED A LIFE GROUP TO SERVE MEAL PREP AND SERVE THAT DAY!
NEW ENGLAND ONLY:
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Backyard Blessings: Custom Playhouses for Healing Hearts
If you know a deserving family that meets our eligibility criteria, please fill out this online nomination form. Our team will review each application carefully and reach out for additional information if needed.
NEW ENGLAND LOCATIONS ONLY: SAVE THE DATE!
WE ARE PLANNING A TRIP TO ADAMS FARM CORN MAZE AND MORE! CLICK THE LINK FOR INFORMATION AND TO PURCHASE TICKETS. THE TICKETS ARE A LITTLE LESS IF YOU BUY ONLINE.
ADAMS FARM REGISTRATION AND TICKET INFORMATION
ALL LOCATIONS:
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Reminder: Please check your planning center profiles for requests to join and also remove members from the list that no longer attend as well as add members not listed. Thank you.
LEADERS: WE HAVE CHANGED UP THE DISCOVER CLASS WHICH USED TO BE GROWTH TRACK AND ARE ASKING ALL LEADERS TO RE-TAKE THIS A SOME POINT. BELOW IS THE CLASS SCHEDULE:
1st Sunday : Discover Waters – after 1st service
2nd Sunday: NO CLASSES
3rd Sunday: Connect Class – after 1st service
4th Sunday: Baptism Class – after 1st service
IMPORTANT***** Please add
Go to your email, add no-reply@churchcenter.com to your contacts (PLEASE ASK ME IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND) THANKS!
no-reply@churchcenter.com to your email contacts so that you do not miss an email from Planning Center and have your members add it as well. This will ensure you do not miss a member request or any emails that come from the Planning Center site.
All announcements and the Waters Event Calendar can be found at: waterschurch.org/events)
Location Text Alerts:
| North Attleboro | Text “subscribe” to 508 695-1300 | |
| Norwood | Text “subscribe” to 781 762-3357 | |
| Apollo Beach | Text “subscribe” to 813 642-6979 | |
| Woonsocket | Text “subscribe” to 833 241-4837 | |
| Southcoast | Text “subscribe” to 508 809-3490 | |
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Key Verse: Matthew 5
Serve Day this Saturday, 9/23/23. Go to waterschurch.org/events to sign up to serve your community.
Ice Breaker: What activity do you enjoy so much that is makes you lose track of time?
First, we serve Here (in our church), because somebody served to get us here.
Second, we serve There. We all have a ‘there.’ We have more than one ‘there.’ We may have a home life, work life, school life, etc. We are not there by accident, we are there on purpose. God put us there to serve.
Key Thought: Am I SERVING where I’m STATIONED?
Is your ‘there’ happy you are there? We should want our ‘there’ to be a better ‘there’ because we are there. We might struggle with where we are, and we may feel we are not doing anything, but God put us there on purpose. It is not by accident we are there.
Acts 17:26 (ESV)
God chose when we would be and where we would be.
Genesis 45:7 (ESV)
Joseph was sold into slavery but served well where God had him and his perspective changed. It was not slavery, but it was God sending him into the mission.
Esther 4:14 (ESV)
Esther’s ‘there’ was not so glamorous either, but she saved Israel from destruction.
Q. Reflecting on the Biblical examples of Joseph and Esther, who found themselves in challenging situations but served well, how does their experience influence your thoughts on your own “there”? Do you feel motivated to serve even when circumstances are tough?
Matthew 5:13-16
There are a lot of Christians who like to sparkle. They act like Christians only when the right people are watching. They are in it only for what they can get out of it.
The world needs more salty Christians, not sparkly Christians. We must ask ourselves: ‘Am I serving where God the Father has shaken me?’
Jesus calls us salt and light. Salt and Light both have several thousand uses. They are valuable, they are useful. This is why He calls us salt and light. Both of these things are essential.
Jesus says that we are essential. We are the Church of the living God. The Church is essential. A portion of our body needs to maintain a salt level. Without salt, we would die. Without light, we would die. Both salt and light literally keep us alive.
So Jesus said this is who His people are. We are keeping the world alive!
Q. How are you embodying the roles of salt and light in your life? What practical steps can you take to be more essential in your community?
- A DECAYING and DARK world needs DEVOTED Christians.
Matthew 5:13-14 (ESV).
In Jesus’s day, salt functioned to preserve meat. If Jesus believes His Church is a preservative, that means we are decaying. Where we are would decay without us.
We need to stop complaining about sinners. They are a decaying people. We are to preserve a few. We are on assignment.
If we are light then the world is dark and needs devoted Christians. If not us, then who? We are the ones God has put there!
John 17:15-18 (ESV)
The reason our setbacks can be our setups is because God the Son is praying to God the Father that he preserve us. Without us, things would be so much worse.
Q. Given that Jesus prays for our preservation, how does this influence your understanding of setbacks in your life? Do you see them as setups for something greater?
2. A DEPRESSED world needs DELIGHTED Christians.
Some Christians are not doing ‘there’ what they should be doing. We cannot be miserable Christians. God’s people should be happy, we should love life.
Not all professing Christians are Christians. Unfortunately, not everyone in the church is part of the Church. There are those who say Jesus is not the only way to Heaven, others say that Jesus is a great teacher but He is not God, and then others say that everyone sins a little bit but most people are basically good. These so-called ‘Christians’ are non-Christians.
Matthew 5:3 (ESV)
Blessing (“Makarios”) – is not a FEELING. It is a RESULT of God’s WORK on your life.
How to be a DELIGHTED Christian:
1. DEPEND on heaven’s RESOURCES
People who are fortunate in life know that they don’t have what it takes.
2. DISDAIN my own SINS.
This is hating our own sins more than other people’s sins.
Matthew 5:4 (ESV)
3. DEMUR to God’s PROTECTION.
Meekness is not weakness. Meekness is gentleness. It is a father’s strength that is expressed in loving care. It is strength under control.
Matthew 5:5 (ESV)
4. DESIRE God’s WAY of LIFE.
We are not doing what we should be doing but want to do what God wants us to do.
Matthew 5:6 (ESV)
5. DISTRIBUTE MERCY freely.
They know how badly they sinned against God and how much God has forgiven them, so they realize they also need to forgive.
Christians cannot afford to NOT be merciful. We do not hold grudges.
Matthew 5:7 (ESV)
6. DECONTAMINATE from the INSIDE out.
Matthew 5:8 (ESV)
Psalm 51:10 (ESV)
7. DIPLOMATICALLY handle STRAINED relationships.
Blessed are the peacemakers. These are not peacekeepers. Sometimes we have to go to war to get to peace. We need to learn how to fight for peace. We don’t have to be friends with someone that may have hurt us but we must let there be peace among us.
(Leader: Choose one or both questions)
Q. Do you see yourself more as a peacemaker or a peacekeeper, and why?
Q. Can you think of a situation in your life that was necessary to achieve a more meaningful, lasting peace?
Matthew 5:9 (ESV)
Proverbs 18:24 (ESV)
We don’t need to be friends with everyone but we should make peace where we can.
8. DELIGHT in the REJECTION of the world.
If the world hates us then we should rejoice because that means we are doing Christianity right.
Matthew 5:11 (ESV)
3. A DUMB world needs DISCERNING Christians who DO good works.
Matthew 5:13 (ESV)
The word for lost comes from the word Morante. This is where we get the world moron from.
If we start to believe like this dumb world we will lose our salt.
We cannot become like the world it needs a counter-world. Our culture needs a counter-culture. It needs Christians who are salt.
James 1:5 (ESV)
The Bible demands we call out for wisdom.
Matthew 5:15-16 (ESV)
We are ‘there’ to shine, to be seen. We cannot hide because we’re not meant to hide.
A WISE Christian is an ACTIVE Christian.
Challenge 1: Out of the 8 points under How to be a Delighted Christian, above, decide which of those areas you are lacking and surrender them to God.
Challenge 2: Do something at work, home, school, or your neighborhood that only a Christian would do. Do it with joy in your heart.
And of course, sign up to serve on Serve Day!
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