God's Warning Light: Check Life Soon

November 10, 2013
"God's Warning Light: Check Life Soon"
Genesis 4:1-12
Scott Howard

"Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground.  When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord.  Abel also brought a gift---the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock.  The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, but he did not accept Cain and his gift.  This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.  "Why are you so angry?" the Lord asked Cain.  "Why do you look so dejected?  You will be accepted if you do what is right.  But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you.  But you must subdue it and be its master."  --Genesis 4:2b-7

• There is a difference between commands and warnings.  God's commands are clear rules.  His warnings come when we are getting close to breaking one of those rules.
• God's warnings are Personal; they are Individual; they are also Timely.

God knew where Cain's anger was taking him, He knew the path Cain wanted to take.

When we are given these warnings from God, we are not given these warnings from an angry judge, but rather from a loving Father.

"The Lord, the God of their ancestors, repeatedly sent his prophets to warn them, for He had compassion on his people and His Temple."  --2 Chronicles 36:15

God's Blinking Warning Lights:

• God will send you His Word at just the right time.  There is a supernatural power in the Bible that will bring the Word of God to your mind at times you really need it.
• God gives us the examples of others who go before us. We are warned through the lives of others when we see where their decisions lead them.
• God will use the words of someone in your life.  Your family and friends know you.  Your first reaction may be to get defensive, but maybe God put them in your life for a reason, and maybe He is using them to speak to you.
• And maybe the very thing you're most defensive about is really the thing you need to pay the most attention to. 
• A sample of future consequences.  Sometimes He will allow you to trip up and feel a small set of consequences before you mess up really big so you'll be wary of the big consequences.
• The supernatural leading from God.  We may call this a coincidence, chance, or fate.  Maybe you are deterred from doing something altogether so that you would not have to make a poor decision.

Are You Amazed? Or Do You Really Have Faith?

November 3, 2013
"Are You Amazed? Or Do You Really Have Faith?"
Mark 6:45-52
Scott Howard

• Ministry is to become your life
• How does God shape faith in us so that, as we embrace Him by faith and we live by faith, we then become useful tools in His hands?

"Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.  [after feeding the five thousand]  After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land.  He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them.  About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake.  He was about to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost.  They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified.  Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I.  Don't be afraid."  Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down.  They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened."
--Mark 6:45-52

• There is a significant difference between amazement and faith.  For example: you can be amazed at rollercoasters, airplanes, new inventions, but still not trust them or put your faith in them.
• The disciples weren't just to be informed; they were to be transformed by His grace.

Devine Power + Devine Compassion = Everything You Need

• There is a God of Awesome Power who, because of Devine Compassion, has invaded my life, and that means He will Deliver to me all things that I need. 
• Jesus wanted the disciples in this seemingly impossible and dangerous moment. Mk 6:45.  It was part of His plan, He was not surprised by the storm.  He knew how self reliant we humans are, and wanted them to have faith in Him, not just be amazed by His works.
• God will take us where we have not intended to go in order to produce in us what we could not achieve on our own.

               A theology of uncomfortable Grace: God's grace will come to you in uncomfortable times.
               The Grace of refinement: being loved, being changed, and being rescued.

• in verse 48, Jesus went to them.  He could have just told the storm to stop, but he wanted them to know that He will take care of them through any storm. 
• God is not so much after your situation as He is after you.
• Amazement is a function of the brain.  Faith is an investment of the heart that changes the way you live.
• The problem with many of us is we're all too easily satisfied.  It's possible to believe in Jesus and still have a hard heart; a heart resistant to the redemptive change that comes from faith in Jesus. Mk 6:52
• I don't become a better me; I become, by grace, a radically different me.

It is definitely amazing what God can do, but it can be even more amazing what He can do through people who put their faith and trust in Him!