Sunday Rewind | 9.28.2014
MUSIC & SCRIPTURE
Be Lifted High (John 3:30) – Nothing Is Wasted by Elevation Worship
Open Up The Heavens (Psalm 108:4-5) – Worth It All by Meredith Andrews
The Lord Our God (James 1:17) – Let The Future Begin by Kristian Stanfill (Passion)
God You Lifted Me Out (Psalm 30:1-2) – For The Honor by Elevation Worship
Cornerstone (Psalm 18:2) – Cornerstone by Hillsong
In Your Presence (2 Corinthians 8:9) – Nothing Is Wasted by Elevation Worship
TEACHING: There’s No Time Like the…
Everyone tends to default to living in either the past, the present or the future. Where does God desire us to be?
CLICK HERE FOR THE SERMON AUDIO
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR SHEPHERD GROUPS
- What was one thing you found particularly interesting, insightful, helpful or difficult to understand from this sermon?
- Everyone tends to default to focusing on the past, present or future. What are the strengths of each? What are the weaknesses?
- Which do you tend to think more about – the past, the present or the future? Why do you think that is?
- Read and discuss John 14:1-17. What do you see about the person and works of Jesus Christ? What might these verses also tell us about man? What jumps out at you personally as you read through these verses?
- What does it mean that God’s Spirit “dwells with you and is in you” (v. 15)?
- What does it mean to be in the presence of God? Can you describe a time when you knew you were in His presence?
- How does the gospel of Jesus Christ frame your past? How does the gospel impact your present? What does the gospel promise for our future?
- Spend some time in prayer about the things you’ve discussed. Thank God for His presence and the new life we have in Him. Pray for His grace over any specific struggles you have focusing too much on the past, present and/or future. Ask for a continual awareness of His presence in your daily life.
Take 5: Making It Stick, Part 4
Every audience will have skeptics and unbelievers. In the 4th session of “Making It Stick,” Pastor Mike talks about inviting them into the conversation.
Take 5 is a series of videos for pastors & teachers of God’s Word. Mike Minter, teaching pastor and founder of Reston Bible Church, shares practical wisdom from over 40 years of ministry experience.
For more Take 5 videos, visit vimeo.com/channels/minter or subscribe via RSS here: http://blog.restonbible.org/category/resources/take-5/feed/
To suggest a topic for Pastor Mike to cover, send an email to questions@restonbible.org.
Take 5: Making It Stick, Part 3
In part 3 of “Making It Stick,” Pastor Mike talks about the need to anticipate questions your audience may have regarding your message.
Take 5 is a series of videos for pastors & teachers of God’s Word. Mike Minter, teaching pastor and founder of Reston Bible Church, shares practical wisdom from over 40 years of ministry experience.
For more Take 5 videos, visit vimeo.com/channels/minter or subscribe via RSS here.
To suggest a topic for Pastor Mike to cover, send an email to questions@restonbible.org.
Take 5: Making It Stick, Part 2
In the second part of “Making It Stick,” Pastor Mike shares about the importance of being able to distill your message down to a memorable, portable statement.
Take 5 is a series of videos for pastors & teachers of God’s Word. Mike Minter, teaching pastor and founder of Reston Bible Church, shares practical wisdom from over 40 years of ministry experience.
For more Take 5 videos, visit vimeo.com/channels/minter or subscribe via RSS here.
To suggest a topic for Pastor Mike to cover, send an email to questions@restonbible.org.
TRAIL GUIDE: My Gift of Love
The “Trail Guide” devotional is used by our adult leaders of grade school groups in Quest as a way to prepare their hearts and minds for the topics we will be covering with the children on the weekend. We have made them available here to help our parents of grade-schoolers engage with their children around the topics we are discussing and also for anyone else that might be blessed by following along.
EXTREME MAKEOVER, Section 1, Lesson 3: My Gift of Love
“So what’s on your heart this week?” Hopefully you have taken some time during our study to reflect on how to use your interests and passions for God. But what about when you see things in yourself that fall short of God’s standard? Do we assume we’re a lost cause and of no use to God? We cannot hide our good qualities or our failures from Him. He “alone knows every human heart.” (1 Kings 8:39). But be of good cheer, the ungodly things I find in my heart bring me to Him in a special way, a humble way. I wish I could bring to Him a Great Commandment Christian, fully assembled and ready to serve. But I came broken, and though I’m not a slave to sin, my flesh still fights against my makeover. When I recognize this and grieve my sin, then I am in a position for God to transform my heart. Yes, it’s uncomfortable, but the Lord promises that He is near to the brokenhearted.
In Psalm 147 we are reminded that it is fitting to praise God. The best way to praise God is to think about His actions and his attributes. The Psalm tells us:
God heals the brokenhearted. He names the stars.
He sends rain to the earth.
He delights in those who fear him.
He has unfailing love.
He sends us his protection.
He shares his commands with us.
He controls all nature.
He communicates his word to Israel and eventually to us!
Praise the Lord.
Loving God has many facets, praising Him for all He has done is one of them. Aligning our lifestyles with His word is another. What kind of heart does God want me to have? A pure heart, a clean heart, a kind heart and of course a heart that loves Him above all else. The kind of heart that Jesus displayed for us.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for
everything you do flows from it.” -Proverbs 4:23MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
1 Kings 8:61 | Joshua 22:5
Psalm 37:4 | Psalm 57:7!
Luke 6:45 | Psalm 51:10
Sunday Rewind | 9.21.2014
MUSIC & SCRIPTURE
Alive In Us (Ephesians 2:4-5) – God Is Able by Hillsong
Open Up Our Eyes (Ephesians 1:18-19a) – Nothing Is Wasted by Elevation Worship
Rock of Ages (Deuteronomy 32:3-4) – Death of Death by Charlie Hall
Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies) (Psalm 27:1) – Let The Future Begin by Chris Tomlin (Passion)
Be Thou My Vision (2 Corinthians 3:17-18) – Cathedral by Heartsong
Christ Is Enough (2 Corinthians 12:9) – Glorious Ruins by Hillsong
TEACHING: Rooted: A Study of Deeper Faith in Colossians, Part 11
Character counts. For better or worse, human character always impacts history. But divine character, led & influenced by the Holy Spirit, always impacts eternity.
CLICK HERE FOR THE SERMON AUDIO
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR SHEPHERD GROUPS
- What was one thing you found particularly interesting, insightful, helpful or difficult to understand from this sermon?
- Read and discuss Colossians 3:12-14. What do you see about God? What does this tell us about man?
- What is the significance of “chosen” and “holy & beloved” (v. 12)? What are we to “put on” as a result? Why does this matter?
- What does it mean to be a person of character? Who comes to mind for you when you think of a person of good character? How has their character impacted your story?
- How do the accounts of Abraham, Joseph and Mordecai illustrate the principle that divinely-inspired character impacts eternity? What other examples from scripture can you think of that illustrates this principle?
- Do you ever feel like your life is stuck in a rut or doesn’t count? How does the gospel address that?
- How does the gospel inform, impact and shape our character?
- Spend some time in prayer about the things you’ve discussed. Thank God that we matter to Him and ask Him to be glorified in our character as we become more like Jesus.
Take 5: Making It Stick, Part 1
In part one of the “Making It Stick” sessions, Pastor Mike shares two essential elements to help make your message stick in the minds & hearts of your hearers.
Take 5 is a series of videos for pastors & teachers of God’s Word. Mike Minter, teaching pastor and founder of Reston Bible Church, shares practical wisdom from over 40 years of ministry experience.
For more Take 5 videos, visit vimeo.com/channels/minter
To suggest a topic for Pastor Mike to cover, send an email to questions@restonbible.org
Take 5: Introduction
It has been my distinct privilege to have taught the scriptures for about forty years at Reston Bible Church. Though I think there is still some tread left on the tire, I would like to pass on to both young and old some of the lessons I have learned regarding this great calling that we lovingly refer to as preaching. Take 5 is an online video series for pastors and teachers of God’s Word where I will share some of the teaching tips I have learned through the years.
Starting September 22, we will publish Take 5 on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays here on the RBC blog, and will keep a running archive on RBC’s Vimeo channel.
To suggest a topic for Pastor Mike to cover, send an email to questions@restonbible.org.
TRAIL GUIDE: God’s Gift of Wisdom
The “Trail Guide” devotional is used by our adult leaders of grade school groups in Quest as a way to prepare their hearts and minds for the topics we will be covering with the children on the weekend. We have made them available here to help our parents of grade-schoolers engage with their children around the topics we are discussing and also for anyone else that might be blessed by following along.
EXTREME MAKEOVER, Section 1, Lesson 2: God’s Gift of Wisdom
About two years ago, I started using a Mac laptop instead of my old PC. One thing that prompted that switch was the problems I was having with viruses on my PC. As it turns out, the Mac operating system is much less prone to virus problems. It does a better job on its own, without the expense of extra virus protection services, of keeping out unwanted and damaging material that could slow down or freeze up my machine.
Last week we talked about the good passions and desires that God has put in our hearts – let’s call them the pre-loaded software. We also talked about guarding our hearts from storing up ungodly things – let’s call them malware or viruses. The human heart was made for loving and glorifying God. Sin has corrupted that heart, but by faith in Jesus we can have our hard-drive (heart) wiped clean of sin and reinstalled with God’s programs, so that it is free to function as it was intended. The problem is that we still live in a sinful world where there are new viruses around every corner. That’s where God’s heart operating system comes into play: WISDOM. Wisdom comes from God and is the atmosphere in which all of your pre-loaded heart software works best. It is also highly resistant to viruses and will prevent unwanted items from piling up in your heart and slowing down or freezing up your system. If our kids want to love God with ALL their heart, then they need the right operating system… wisdom. “Whatever else you get, get wisdom.” (Prov. 4:7)
“Above all else, guard your heart, for
everything you do flows from it.” -Proverbs 4:23MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Prov 2:1-11 | Jer 33:3!
James 1:5 | Psalm 19:7
Prov 10:8 | Prov 16:23
Prov 2:10
From the Field: Mae Phae, Thailand
Last weekend, the RBC congregation was blessed to receive a missions report from Scott McManigle, a former RBC missionary who now serves as the associate missions pastor at Faith Bible Church. Scott, along with his wife Annette and their children, spent eighteen years in northern Thailand. Through their service, the Lord used them to plant a church among the Pwo Karen tribe in a village called Mae Phae. Three Pwo Karen church leaders joined Scott last Sunday in praising the Lord for RBC’s support and involvement in sending the gospel of Christ to their tribe.
“Thank you for sending us a missionary. Thank you for sending the gospel. God has saved us from worshiping the spirits; He has saved us from the deceit of Satan through His son, Jesus.”
We praise God for the fruit He is bearing through the faithful proclamation of the gospel in Northern Thailand. Since the McManigles left Thailand in 2006, the church in Mae Phae has continued to grow and the Pwo Karen believers are teaching the gospel in other tribes around their area.
Please continue to pray for gospel to go forth in the Mae Phae village and to other villages throughout the region. Pray that many Pwo Karen tribesmen would come to saving faith in Jesus and that the church there would be a great light for the glory of God. To learn more about the church in Mae Phae and the Pwo Karen people, check out the video below.
(Video credit: Fellowship Bible Church)