Message Recap – 9/24/10 – Vision: Part 3

Actually, the title of the series has been renamed "VisionQuest" because, well, let's face it, it's cool.

We are winding down a series from Kris Miner about Vision. It's been awesome! You can check out the recap for the previous installment.

Vision is a powerful thing. If you have a vision for your life, it changes how you live your life. If you have a vision for your friends to get saved, you'll act differently around them.

What is your vision for your life? Chances are, God's vision for you is much bigger. The size of your vision should require you to put your trust in God in order to accomplish it. It should be so big that yo can't accomplish it on your own!

We're going to talk tonight about walking in vision; walking in the call of God on our lives. There are a couple of key phrases that will help us walk in the call of God.

First let's look at Nehemiah 2:1-5:

In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before; so the king asked me, "Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart."
I was very much afraid, but I said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?"

The king said to me, "What is it you want?"
Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king, "If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it."

One of our key phrases is found right in there. “Send me!” The first step in being used by God is a willingness to be used by God! It's not enough to just have the vision, you have to also ask God to use you to accomplish that!

God is not going to ask you for anything less than everything; all of you. He wants your heart, soul, mind, thoughts, habits, free time: everything!

As Christians we need to learn to pray “Send me,” prayers. When we see a need, to pray for God to use you as the solution to that problem. When we see teens that are lost and don't know God, to ask God to send us to that need.

If the size of your vision isn't intimidating to you, there's a good chance it's insulting to God. -Steven Furtick

Next check out Matthew 26:36-42:

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."

Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."

“Your will be done” is the second key phrase we need to learn. The vision that you have for your life should be a big, intimidating vision that you can't accomplish on your own. And in the face of that we need to be able to say, “Not my will but your will be done.”

Jesus had a huge vision for his life – in fact, bigger than any of us will ever have to face. And in the midst of that, He was able to say, “Your will be done.”

We need to start using those phrases regularly, repeating them. When we have a vision, to say, “Send me!” When it's time to step out in that vision, “Your will be done.”

Kris has a vision for you. A vision of you as difference makers, soul winners, sold out Christians, leaders in your generation. Can you get ahold of that vision?

God doesn't have a small vision for your life – it's huge! You are called to be not only conquerors but more than conquerors!

To walk in this huge vision, you need to learn to pray. “Send me!” and “Not my will but your be done.”

Message Recap – 9/17/10 – Vision: Part 2

We have the privilege of hearing from Kris Miner for a whole series! Last week the recapper was not present, so we are jumping in to part 2 of his series!

Last week we talked about vision. Specifically, Nehemiah and the restoration of Jerusalem. The city had been destroyed, and Nehemiah had a vision to restore it. It had been destroyed for 150 years and in 52 days Nehemiah reconstructed the walls. That's what vision can do!

He had a vision. Do you have a vision? For your friends, for your school, your generation?

“Vision is the greatest deterrent to sin.” - Pastor Jim

When you see yourself a certain way, when you have a vision for your life and a plan for your life you will act differently.

“If the size of your vision for your life isn't intimidating to you, there's a possibility it's insulting to God.” - Steven Furtick

We need bigger vision. Whatever your current vision is, is it something you can do on your own? Is it easily achieved? If so, you need a bigger vision!

Take a look at Genesis 17:5: No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.

When God said this to Abraham, he was 99 years old. When you consider that, you realize that it was impossible for him to fulfill this vision on his own.

In Exodus 3:10, God tells Moses, "So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."

But there was a problem. In Exodus 4:10-13, Moses uses every excuse he can think of to avoid going to Egypt. He needed a bigger vision of himself!

Finally, take a look at Gideon in Judges 6:11-12. He was hiding; afraid of the Midianites. Gideon's vision for his life was just to get by, to survive. God's vision for him was different; it was much bigger than Gideon's vision. God even called him a "mighty warrior". Gideon ended up defeating the entire Midianite army with just 300 men. God's vision is always bigger!

We need to get a bigger vision for our lives! God will not ask you to do something that you are currently capable of doing. If that's what your vision is, it's not big enough! God will challenge you to do things that right now look impossible.

No one in his right mind would say, “I think I'll take these 300 men and try to defeat a huge army.” But with God's help, it can happen!

If your vision is to do something that seems impossible for you, chances are it's a God vision.

Maybe you feel like Moses. “God, please use someone else. I'm not the right person!” That's why God wanted Moses to do it, so that He got the glory!

God likes to take a person who isn't good at speaking to stand before Pharaoh and demand the release of a millions slaves. He likes to take a coward and use him to defeat a mighty army against all odds.

Maybe you feel that it's too late for vision to come to pass. Maybe your vision is just to get through life without getting noticed. The call of God is not to just survive! The call of God is to be a conqueror! In fact, to be more than a conqueror!

We need to get a vision for our lives, for this generation! Your generation is being oppressed. The Lord is saying to you tonight, “I am with you mighty warrior!”

Don't be afraid to dream a dream that's bigger than yourself, that's more than you can accomplish. Because that's God's vision for you. Don't be afraid to step into a destiny that's bigger than yourself, because God is with you, mighty warrior!

Message Recap – 8/27/10 – Fight!: Part 6

If you're just joining us, where've you been?? We are just finishing up Pastor Dan's series called Fight! We've been talking about fighting with the wrong weapons or the wrong war, and what are the right weapons. You can check out previous messages in the series here:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

The theme verse for this series is found in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5:

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

We fight for freedom and life against the enemy – slavery and death. Anger depression, insignificance are just a few other facets of the enemy we fight. In this fight, we don't use human arguments and wisdom and our enemy is not people. Our fight is against principalities and powers. We use weapons like love, the Cross, forgiveness and the Word of God. These weapons are what Jesus used to establish a beachhead on this earth. For more on all of that, check out previous messages from this series.

Tonight we are taking a look at the weapon of the Spirit's power.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

A few of the ways the Spirit's power can be seen in our lives are:

1. Healing

When Pastor Dan was traveling with Clint Rogers Ministries he saw first hand a whole lot of amazing demonstrations of the Spirit's power. People who were blind or deaf healed, a baby's leg several inches shorter than the other one grew instantly!

2. Prophecy

It doesn't have to be some grand proclamation in King James English. We're talking about just following the leading of the Spirit and speaking into someone's life.

3. Deliverance

People are in trouble out there. Addicted, depressed, angry. They need to be set free!

Maybe you're thinking, But... what if it doesn't work?!? What if it's embarrassing?!? That's why the Cross is so important. Because when you go to the Cross, you lay down your own life. It's no longer about you. You're just the jumper cables. One end is hooked up to the power of God, the other to a person in need. You are the conduit, bringing the power of God to them.

We have a relationship with God, we can connect to Him. There are people out there that don't have a relationship with Him, that are oppressed and in need. We can help them get Him!

In Acts 10:38, we see what Jesus did by the Spirit's power:

...how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

And in Acts 1:8 that same power was given to Jesus' disciples:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Notice it doesn't say, “You will go to Bible School for 5 years and THEN be my witnesses.” Nope, it's through the power of the Holy Spirit, available now!

Here's how Jesus put it to his disciples in Matthew 10:7-8:

As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

And it's not just for the 12 disciples. It's for all of us! Check out Matthew 28:18-20:

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Jesus is saying, “OK, you disciples have it. Now go tell everyone else and tell them to do the same!” And so they did – and generations later, here we are.

The pressure is not on us, it's on God.

Mark 16:17-19 has a pretty cool promise:

And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.

We're just following the promise of God, the pressure is on Him to come through. The power comes from Him, not from the jumper cables. We are all called to walk in the power of God, not just pastors or parents or leaders or those "with all the answers." Even Paul said he didn't know what to say; he stumbled over his words. But God's power worked through him.

Once you've been healed, set free and delivered, you KNOW God is real. There is no argument about it, you just know! Eloquence won't change the world, arguing won't change the world. But God's power will.

If you feel weak, ignorant, unable to speak well, etc, you are just right to be used by God! The power of the Spirit is in you. Learn to know His voice when He prompts you to go speak to someone or pray for someone. Be sensitive to His leading, and He will tell you what to do.

Walk in the power of the Spirit!