24 Oct Stranger Things | Part 5 “His House Blesses My House” – All Locations
Announcements:
First Tuesday is November 2, 2021 – No Guide Next Week
We are accepting donations for our 2021 Thanksgiving Outreach. $40 will cover a Thanksgiving meal for a family! Go to waterschurch.org/give and select ‘2021 Thanksgiving Outreach’ from the drop-down menu. We are planning on 400 boxes for Apollo Beach, NA, Woonsocket, and SoCo Locations which brings the total monies needed to $16,000.
We signed on the building in Tiverton a couple of weeks ago. Please keep that in prayer as there is a lot of work to do there.
Thank you for giving toward the parking lot, it is looking great! Please continue to give toward the patio.
SATURDAY NIGHTS BACK: November 13.
Phil Wickham & special guest, Josh Baldwin, will be performing the Hymn of Heaven Tour at Waters Church North Attleboro on Sat, May 14, 2022!
Pre-sale password: HEAVEN
Ticket link: https://www.ticketweb.com/…/phil-wickham…/11394965…
All announcements can be found at: waterschurch.guide
Our text alert number is 81411. Text ‘waterschurch’ to 81411 to join our text alert system.
The Deep End, the new Deep Dive Bible Study, and 10 questions with Tim are back! Please note that The Deep End will only be available on timhatchlive.com/live. Be sure to like and subscribe to the channel to be notified of each new podcast.
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Key Verse: Ephesians 5
OUTLINE:
Ephesians 5:17-21 – priorities of the CHURCH GATHERING.
Ephesians 5:22-6:4 – realities of the CHRISTIAN HOME.
Every time God does something powerful he starts with the family. Women submit to their husbands, men love your wives, and children obey your parents.
God is a big fan of the family. BUT, Before we get our family in order, we need to get the house of God in order. The way to love our home and have it blessed is to love the House of God.
PARTICIPATING in a life-giving CHURCH – PRODUCES a life-giving HOME!
If we are going to have a good relationship with God, we need a good Church. In a good life-giving Church we find friends, we find family. There are bad Churches. Churches where pastors tickle the ears of those that attend is not a good church. There are people in church just riding on the hems of what God could give them. Some people will give all their attention to a place that has a potential to lose (i.e. football stadiums) but the Church is the place where we win. We may be going through something but we serve a God who specializes in resurrection and gives beauty for ashes. As Christians, we are people of resurrection. The gathering needs to look like the message, where we gather there is life.
Q. In what ways has being a part of a life-giving church produced blessings in your home?
3 Signs of a Good Church Gathering:
1. A gathering that calls you to follow GOD’S WILL, not the WORLD’S WAYS.
We have a good Church at Waters. A good church is where the preacher is not afraid to say things that are uncomfortable. He is not afraid to be politically incorrect and says ‘This is what the Bible says.’ We are not of this world or like this world nor should we seek the affection of this world. Our home is in heaven.
Q. What are some things you that may have heard made you uncomfortable BUT upon hearing them has changed you?
Ephesians 5:17 (ESV)
There is a lot of foolishness in the world today. A pastors job is to teach us what the will of the Lord is. We must pray for our pastors. Paul the Apostle needed prayer from the Church. There is temptation in the world even for pastors. Pastors must talk about the empty grave which is a testimony to the demons that light has triumphed over darkness. There are many churches where the pastor will never talk about sin or the need for repentance. We need pastors that can give it to us straight so we can live. In church, we need someone to give us the Truth. We are to avoid the foolishness of this world.
Genesis 11:1–4 (ESV)
This is a picture of the heart of man. What we build does not last. Wherever we see the city, we see corruption because there are more people in the city. Where there are more people, there is more sin. God has a heart for the city. Jonah was sent into the city of Nineveh to save the people. Paul also goes into the city to preach to the people.
POINT: DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THE CITY but FILLED with the THIRD PERSON of the TRINITY.
We need to see that we need to go into the city with the Good News of Jesus and bring light into the darkness. There are times people were leave the city. God sends people out of the city because it is not good to be surrounded by corruption and foolishness. We don’t walk in the ways of the world.
3 Signs of a Good Church Gathering:
2. A gathering that continually SEEKS the FULLNESS of the HOLY SPIRIT.
A good Church is one that encourages us to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 5:18 (ESV)
We, who believe, have the Holy Spirit inside of us but it is our job as Christians to be filled with the Holy Spirit continually and regularly. It is not a one and done. Being filled with the Holy Spirit is something we can experience on a continual basis, allowing God to fill us up and take control.
Dionysus was the god of wine. The Ephesians threw parties and worshipped him. They believed he would not just fill them with wine, but fill them with himself and they would have the ability to communicate with the unseen world. Paul tells the church in Ephesus that Dionysus cannot doe this, it is not how it works. Dionysus may fill us with joy temporarily and give us boldness for a moment but boldness for stupidity. It may give us the ability to act like we can talk to the dead. However, wine is all about how we use it. Some verses tell us wine is good and some say it is not. Everything that Dionysus promises, God can deliver. We are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not leave us with regret.
The Holy Spirit brings Joy.
Q. What evidence do you see that your life is controlled by the Holy Spirit?
Psalm 4:7 (ESV)
The Holy Spirit has the same effect as wine but positive effects.
The Holy Spirit LIVES in God’s PEOPLE.
John 14:17 (ESV)
The Holy Spirit lives is in us.
The Holy Spirit SPEAKS to us from BEYOND this life.
John 16:13 (ESV)
The Holy Spirit is a Person not an ‘it’. He is the Person of God in us. He will speak to us about what is coming up. That is why we want the be filled with the Holy Spirit and not wine. Wine helps us forget the future and messes up our lives, but the Holy Spirit informs us of the future. We may be on the verge of making a decision that wrecks us and the Holy Spirit will come and say ‘no, don’t do it’
Q. What is something the Holy Spirit had warned you about (ie when buying a house, a pet, dating a someone, etc.) and did you heed the warning?
Let’s Take the Test: Am I SPIRIT FILLED?
Example #1: Filled to FACE & RESIST TEMPTATION.
The Holy Spirit filled Jesus. He set aside his privileges as God and walked as a man in the power of the Holy Spirit. All that He did was because the Holy Spirit filled Him and empowered Him (Acts 10:38) .
Matthew 3:16–4:1 (ESV)
The Spirit led him to be tempted. The Holy Spirit gives us power to withstand temptation
Q. How do you handle temptation when it comes your way?
Example #2: Filled to SERVE the Church.
Acts 6:2–3 (ESV)
When we serve and get involved He fills us.
Example #3: Filled to BOLDLY PROCLAIM the Gospel.
Peter and John were arrested for preaching and they prayed that God would give them more boldness to preach the gospel even more. We need God to give us boldness to be even louder preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Acts 4:31 (ESV)
He fills us with boldness to speak God’s word.
Example #4: Filled to GIVE UP YOUR LIFE for God’s PLAN.
We are filled with the Holy Spirit to surrender our plans to God.
Acts 7:55,60 (ESV).
Steven was filled with the Holy Spirit. He was willing to die if that was what God wanted him to do. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is far more than speaking in tongues or ‘feeling’ worship.
Q. What plans have you surrendered to God and what plans do you have that you have not surrendered to God?
3 Signs of a Good Church Gathering:
3. A gathering where people are JOYFUL, THANKFUL, and HELPFUL.
Ephesians 5:19-21 (ESV)
Jesus is alive and our sins are forgiven! We are here to help. The gathering should be a place where everyone is happy to be there. Singing is a sign of joy. We know we have joy when the singing starts to come out. That is what it should be in the House of God, joy. We should give thanks. If we had it all going on so well that we did not need help then who would we be thankful to? Submitting to each other is getting under the mission of God. A church may not be thankful or joyful when 20% of the people are doing 80% of the work. The 20% will get exhausted. This also applies to giving. We should not be tippers we should be joyful givers. There is a mission going on at Waters that is bigger than ever. We are in countries including Guatemala and Peru. We have locations in Norwood, Woonsocket, Tiverton, Apollo Beach, and North Attleboro. Ninety people have been baptized year to date, over one hundred people saved, and people are engaged. It is time to put God first in serving and giving.
Q. What are you joyful and thankful for?
“I am currently SERVING/HELPING my Church REACH PEOPLE on the weekend”: YES ( ) NO ( ).
People before us paid for us to be at Waters. We are benefitting form those that have served.
Q. If you answered ‘No’, what steps can you take to change that (where can you start, what is your passion)?
Luke 22:27 (ESV); Mark 10:45 (ESV); Matthew 23:11 (ESV);John 4:35 (ESV)
Sermon in a Sentence:
Reject nominal, casual church attendance and embrace God’s wisdom, fullness and mission for the GLORY of Jesus Christ..
Challenge this week: Start giving if you are not giving, start serving if you are not serving and be joyful, thankful and helpful even when you find it difficult.
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