Month: June 2017

John Piper, in talking about freedom said, “You are fully free when you have the desire, the ability, and the opportunity to do what will leave you with no regrets forever.”
If you don’t have the desire to do a thing, you are not fully free to do it. Oh, you may muster the will power to do what you don’t want to do, but nobody calls that full freedom…. And if you have the desire to do something, but no ability to do it, you are not free to do it. And if you have the desire and the ability to do something, but no opportunity to do it, you are not free to do it. And if you have the desire to do something, and the ability to do it, and the opportunity to do it, but it destroys you in the end, you are not fully free—not free indeed.
Our family went to Hawaii and wanted to experience the thrill of ziplining down the mountains to the ocean. We had reservations, but what if on the way to the meeting place we get delayed in terrible traffic and can’t get there. You lack the freedom of opportunity. Or, suppose you get there, but because you were a little late, you didn’t take the required safety class, so you don’t know the procedures. You lack the freedom of ability. Or, you get to the meeting place, you took the class, and you go up to the top of the mountain. But when they put the harness on you and you step up on that platform, you look down and you’re paralyzed with fear. You lack the freedom of desire, so you don’t jump.
But there’s one last requirement for true freedom. Suppose you get to the place (freedom of opportunity), you took the class (freedom of ability), and you go up the mountain, look out, and can’t wait to jump (freedom of desire). So you jump and are enjoying the freedom of ziplining down the mountain. But your harness is defective and it breaks. You are not truly free because what you’re doing is going to destroy you. To go back to his definition: “You are fully free when you have the desire, the ability, and the opportunity to do what will leave you with no regrets forever.”
Galatians 5:1 simply says, ‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.’ (NIV)
A. A STATEMENT OF FREEDOM
A.1 Christ set us free.,
In a once-and-for-all, decisive and definitive action, Christ set us free.
What does this mean?
· It means that before the action of Christ, we were not free – we were slaves, we were in bondage.
· It means that we did not, indeed, could not, set ourselves free from this slavery.
· It means that the ensuing liberty is not the result of our action.
· Because Jesus Christ did it, it has been done effectively, completely and permanently.
· It means that when we reject this freedom we are rejecting the work of Christ for us.
If the Son therefore shall make you free,
ye shall be free indeed. John 8:36

Life Application: Are there limits to your freedom? Let’s discuss.
Games
CHAIR TIE UP – Name bad habits, when one is named use some yarn or string to tie a selected person to a chair. Use one strand for each bad habit. Then go through things that can help you break these habits. These things are found in a relationship with Jesus. As you name things, a person may come up and cut one of the ties. Teach: true freedom is only possible through Jesus Christ.
STAND FIRM – Get two hula hoops or draw one circle on the ground so two people can stand in it. This is the typical sumo wrestler game where you are encouraged to stand firm while someone is trying to push you out of the circle. Explain that the circle is God’s boundaries and the other person is the world trying to push you out. Sometimes the world wins, but as you get stronger you can win more often.
BARBELL RACE – Simple relay race. Two teams, set a start and finish. One team gets to ruin normally, the other team but transfer a barbell to each team member.
YOU ARE FREE TO – Simon Sez using the words, “You are free to” see if you can trip them up.

What was the last message Jesus told in the Sermon on the Mount? Look it up and listen.
Matthew 7 is the last chapter. Jesus talks about trees that bear fruit.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. (Ultimately, you can tell those that belong to Jesus. We are good at wearing masks and faking it, but ultimately, those masks will crack and their true selves will be exposed.)
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity
MAJOR WARNING! That’s something I would not want to happen to me. What about you? Forgiveness means true repentance. Not the typical, “I told you to clean up your room.” I’m sorry…..but behavior never changes. Does that mean they are really sorry? There has to be some change……After the warning….is the last story that Jesus told during the awesome Sermon on the Mount.

24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
What came up against a person’s life? Rain, floods, and wind.
Let’s look at each:
RAIN – Rain is nice at first. But most seek shelter from the rain. Why? Because we want to stay dry. Because when we get wet, we have to change clothes so we don’t get sick. Think of rain as sin and how we have to get rid of the wet to continue with our day.
FLOODS – Floods are more dangerous than rain. When rain becomes overwhelming it can take our lives. These are called doorways in spiritual warfare parlance. Then doorways turn to footholds and finally turn into strongholds. Floods can drown us.
WINDS – Winds come from the outside and are a devastating force in the world. Water and wind cause most of the erosion in the world. Erosion can happen in our lives as well. The world is blowing at us daily. It’s like living at the beach. We have a steady wind blowing. The world is trying to change us constantly. Every radio station, every TV station, every conversation we have, every class we take, every book we read, everything is trying to influence us.
We want to be like a good string tree, producing good fruit…..
But these situations are not the focus. What is i?
The foundation. Jesus said there are two types of people: those who make their foundation in Him and the others who do not. Only those grounded in Him will survive sin, and troubles of the world. How do you think we put our foundation in Jesus? What areas of our lives are needed to be moved to the rock?

RAIN GAMES
1. Wet Paper Dash – Take a piece of paper. Go from point to point outside. Whose paper is least damaged by the rain? You may not put it under your clothing.
2. Puddle Relay – Two dish towels. Two teams fill cups with water by going to a puddle and soaking up puddle water.
3. DRINK N SHAKE – Everyone gets a cup of water…last three to finish will go to a smaller tree. 3 winners choose one loser, stand under tree. The winners get to shake the tree.
4. Fruity Rhyme….You will know that you are disciples of Jesus if you love one another. Leader starts “Rain, rain go away come back another day.” Each person then goes around doing the same kind of rhyme saying something nice about the person to your left. Go around circle.
5. Wet Ball – Standing in circle toss ball to someone. Using a wet cush ball. To make it more interesting leader may direct who the ball gets thrown to: “Who has a birthday in October?” “Who is wearing pink?” “Who has a brother?” etc… wet ball after each throw.
6. Candle vs Rain light a candle walk from one point to another outside see if you can keep candle lit. You may not cover candle with hand or any part of body or clothing.

In today’s culture we have two types of friends: friend/friends, and social media friends. Proverbs 17:17 says, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.”

You know your friends. They are in your life, they love you through your good and bad traits. Let’s look at the friends we can find on social media.

1. We have our friends and family on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the list goes on.The social media sites give you a level of communication that was unheard of before, when talking to your friend used to be through a dial-up phone.

2. We have friends that we have lost touch with over the years. Now we get notified when a birthday comes up. We can message, poke and play games with those people who had an impact in our lives.

3. Finally, We have those that are only found in social media through games or similar interests. These are the ones I call pseudo friends. Why? Because we do not know if they can pass the biblical litmus test of being a friend.

You can spend a lot of time with pseudo friends. If you play games that have groups, you can spend as much time interacting with them as you do with family members or those closest to you. But are they really friends? Do they really care about your well being? Will they be there for you if you needed them? With the international culture of social media, you might chat with someone a continent away. Can they really be there for you?

Friends that are made through games or similar interests are great, but don’t get fooled. Most of them are acquaintances, not friends. It is great that people will follow you, read your blog, talk to you, offer advice, or even pray for you. There is nothing wrong with that, but friendship is deeper than a conversation, or even many conversations online.

Social media is a great way to deepen your friendships and to make new acquaintances, but the test of friendship still requires time spent together, face to face, not through a screen. This is a good topic to discuss. What do you think? Thanks for your response.

It is summertime and we love to seek things. We seek the shade. We seek the cool of AC inside. We seek a nice cool refreshing drink on a hot day. Seeking happens every day in an incalculable number of ways. At pone time in our lives we were seeking peace and forgiveness. We found Jesus Christ and invited Him in our lives. In some people, the seeking stopped cold.
Once we’ve found Jesus, what then? Is our seeking over? What is our next bit of seeking in our spiritual lives? The answer is actually easy.

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33

We are now joint heirs with Jesus inheriting the Kingdom of God. But you notice the scripture does not end there. The Bible said, “….and His righteousness.” We are to seek after right living. The more right choices we make, the more we become conformed to the image of Jesus. Becoming a Christian is not the end, it is only the beginning. Hebrews puts it well:

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Hebrews 12:1

Let us continue, then, seeking…seek the shade…seek the air conditioning…but most of all, seek God’s righteousness.