Please note that the audio file for this sermon has been edited due to the personal sharing that occurred during the service. Some notes are below.
What has God placed on your heart for your local area? Is there a vision you have for the people around you when it comes to them knowing God's presence, being in relationship with Him, and understanding the kingdom of God?
What does it look like for you to live out the commission of Christ for us in your local area?
Consider where Jesus is inviting you to more...:
- growth
- change
- understanding
- risk-taking in faith
- prayer for others
- showing off Jesus and the kingdom of God
Some of the sharing during the service included:
- Miracles will occur every day
- Community to walk with, in faith
- For believers to have increased courage and confidence to share Jesus
- The battle over the local school is currently intense - a dream to see the Kingdom come, in power
- Images of both spot fires and rushing rivers of Holy Spirit igniting and flowing through town
- The local community being healed - families, poverty, identities
- The church together as one body
- Youth will come to know Jesus and have their identities restored
Worldview:
Our thinking patterns that influence how we see reality. which are formed through life experiences and culture.
Our worldview can be changed. Understanding what we can of our worldview helps inform what biases we may have as we interact with the Bible and the world around us.
Kingdom of God:
Where the sovereignty of the King (God) in enacted. Kingdom is a verb, not a noun.
The whole Bible is a big story about God's love.
We see this love in the perfect unity and community of the Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
So what does an authentic community, rooted in Christ, look like?
Some questions for you as you listen:
- What does authentic mean?
- What should drive all actions in an authentic community?
And some questions for you as you reflect:
- What is your key takeaway today? (What did God speak to your heart about?)
- Is there an area that you feel may be one that God wants to grow you in during this season of your life?
Love. Do you know it? How would you describe it? Have you experienced it?
1 John 4:9-19
The love of God was revealed among us by this—that God sent His one and only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. This is love—not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atonement for our sins. Loved ones, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us and His love is made perfect in us. We know that we abide in Him and He in us by this—because He has given us of His Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son as Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he abides in God. So, we have come to know and trust in the love that God has for us. God is love. Now, whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. In this way, love is made perfect among us so that we should have boldness on the Day of Judgment. For just as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and the one who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love because He first loved us.
Where does love come from?
What words describe this love?
This love is the driving force of what, where?
Psalm 34:8
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
How do we taste and see that Love is good?
How do others taste and see that Love is good?