On Wednesday evening at 5:30 we are doing a new way to do church where we set at tables and chairs instead of in pews. We don’t preach, we discuss what the Bible has to say about our lives today. The hope is to strip away some of the conventions of the church that have hindered many people from coming into contact with the fullness of God’s love.

The service, Mark 5:30, gets it’s name from the story in the Gospel of Mark that describes how a woman, who had been ill for years, is healed when she touches the hem of Jesus’ coat. We chose this particular story because in some way we can all relate to it. We seek healing and wholeness everywhere only to find we just need a single touch of Jesus to find it.

We hope this new kind of church will grow into a place where anyone and everyone can come to find a closer, deeper, more meaningful, life with God. If you are interested or a bit curious about exploring the depths of God in a slightly new way, you are invited to join us every Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. While you are enjoying the Mark 5:30 experience your children can join in an energetic Children’s ministry at that time. It is designed to provide the children a solid Biblical base through activities that develop Christian values and character. The children may also join the Joyful Noise children’s choir which meets at 6pm.

• Jesus came to bring comfort to the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.
• God’s comfort to his people so they can comfort others.
• Romans chapter 2
• Comfort vs. Comma
• Is the Church suffering from Comfort Christian syndrome?
• “Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp — or what’s a heaven for?”  Robert Browning.
• Every day of our lives we are being pulled in a number of different directions on one hand we have family responsibilities pulling us one way; our obligations to the church pulling us another and friends pulling us in yet another. We are left wondering, “What is really important in life?”
• “How often have we gone to God asking him to change our situation rather than asking him to change our heart?”
• When Our Hearts Are Focused On Ourselves We Make Plans.
• When our hearts are focused on God a kingdom is built.
• Do you want to be a part of building a kingdom?

What has God said to you today?

• God does not want us to worry He wants us to understand that there is no need for worry when we know the truth.
• The truth that even though we are a creation like a sparrow God loves us so much more.

1. YOU ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO GOD. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

·         God loves us – God loves us as a loving parent and only want good things for us.

·         If this is true then why then why do so many bad things happen to good people?

·         This is one of the most difficult questions in all of theology. God is eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. Why should human beings (not eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipresent, or omnipotent) expect to be able to fully understand God’s ways?

·         The question might be why should we expect good things when we ignore his love and commandments?

·         ”Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

2. WE CAN’T DO IT BY OURSLEVES. As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: Romans 3:10

• Stand up, stand up for Jesus,

         stand in his strength alone;

               the arm of flesh will fail you,

               ye dare not trust your own.

3. GOD HAS PROVIDED A WAY FOR YOU TO BE FORGIVEN. while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

4. YOU MUST COMPLETELY TRUST JESUS CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR. Romans 10:9-10 ⁹ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

·         God want us to know that in God’s love we are save through the sacrifice of Jesus – but he is also quite clear that we must truly believe it in our hearts and say so with our mouth.

·         Without this nothing else – nothing else matters.

 5. YOU WILL NEED TO PUT GOD FIRST IN YOUR LIFE AS A FORGIVEN AND SAVED PERSON. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33

6. The kingdom of God is now. Think kingdom now.

·         Colossians 1:13 ¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,

Luke 17:21 ²¹ nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

7. WITH GOD WE CAN DO ANYTHING. Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Why do you want to go there?

These are the things we don’t do and it starts with fearing the lord, or if we take a look at the word that is translated for fear it also mean to respect, revere, or awe.

• Too often we don’t respect or hold God in awe – but we treat God as if he is our servant instead of the creator of the universe. God is either a convenient story we tell each other for comfort or He is our heavenly Father. Yahweh – the great I am.

2.    Walk in ALL God’s ways

God would walk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening. Both Enoch and Noah “walked with God” (Gen. 5.24, 6.9).

“The LORD has told you, human, what is good; he has told you what he wants from you: to do what is right to other people, love being kind to others, and live humbly, obeying your God” (Micah 6:8).

• Most of us do not spend the time to walk with God. We don’t see the need or the advantage. We are too busy planning our lives instead of walking with God in the cool of the evening.

3.    Love God

Luke 10:27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.

This is the first and great commandment’” (Matt. 22.35-38). Thus our Lord Himself put His divine stamp of approval on the idea that the most important thing that we can do is to love our God.

However, as in the case of fearing God, we must ask, what does loving God mean? Is it just having a tingly, emotional feeling when we think of God?

“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 Jn. 5.3).

Love your neighbor as yourself.

4.    Live in the Spirit.

Living in god’s spirit means to learn to put off the old ways of thinking and responding and put on God’s new ways of thinking and responding. This begins by daily renewing your mind with the life-changing truth of God’s Word (Ephesians 4:22-24; See verses 25-32 for some specific examples). As you learn to practice the truth, you gradually become more and more godly–like Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 4:7).

Show mercy. We are more interested in revenge than mercy. Jesus instructs us that we can only be forgiven when we forgive other.

6.    Believe

  “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.

7.    Make disciples.

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. Matt 28:19-20

1. God can’t break a promise.
   My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of my lips.
   —Psalm 89:34

That is why it is so important to know and understand God’s word.

1. God can’t remember sins he’s promised to forget.
   I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins.
   —Isaiah 43:25

1. God can’t make a loser.
   Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ.
   —2 Corinthians 2:14

I have a friend who would say, “God don’t make no junk.”

There are times when we can feel of little worth – God wants us to know that we are his sacred children and more valuable that anything.

1. God can’t abandon you.
   Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, he is the one who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.
   —Deuteronomy 31:6
2. God can’t stop thinking about you.
   How precious also are your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with you.
   —Psalm 139:17-18
3. God can’t stop loving you.
   Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving kindness I have drawn you.
   —Jeremiah 31:3

If God owns it, what am I doing with it?

Matthew 25:14-30 

God wants us to be rivers not reservoirs

We need to be willing to allow God’s blessing to flow through us not dam them up.

Two view about what God gives us. if you are faithful God give you much. Prosperity theology. If you are faithful you give everything away. Vow of poverty.

I offer a third view. Theology of stewardship says God wants us to have what we need –

• not about gain or loss about management
• Stewardship done right is freeing
• Neither believe that God wants us to possess everything, or nothing.
• God promises us that if we follow him he will give us the desires of our heart. Psalm 37:4
• Stewardship takes the promises of the both views where we become MANAGERS of what God has given us.
• If you made $400 last week, how much does of that is God’s? *Some of you would say”40.”  That is 10%. That is all we owe God.  $400 is the answer, because God already owns it all.
• Job said, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the Lord.”
• *The master had the rights, the stewards were responsible for handling the talents faithfully.
• Stewardship is the use of God given resources for the accomplishment of God given goals.
• *If we think we own the possessions God has given us, we don’t have it!
• Every spending decision is a spiritual decision.
  Not only what we give to the Lord, but what we do with the rest of our money.
• This morning the church is going to give you a dollar. With this dollar come responsibility. I would ask all of us to take our dollar and invest it for the next 90 days. Three months  
• On Jan 9 2011 we will bring the profits from our investments to help fund our backyard mission projects this spring.