Galatians teaching getting good response...

We've already sold a few of these, and the response is totally positive. One man told me that is was so good, that he "listened to it twice" this week… wow! Order yours today.

On sale now in the bookstore for only $15!

The complete 6-hour teaching on GALATIANS is ready for purchase.

Email my assistant - kristina.burhans@thevineyardchurch.us - to order* if you are out of the Urbana area and are unable to come to the bookstore.

*Some shipping will be required.

Proofs looked good today... very cool!

Galatians CDs...

will be available this weekend! So excited. Pics and more details to come soon!

adam

At the seeds conference in OKLAHOMA

Hey everyone,
Having a great time at SEEDS. Learning from Rick Warren and Willie George and Chip Heath already has been incredible.

Check out my TWITTER and catch up: https://twitter.com/PastorH20

Or follow the SEEDS Conference: @seeds 

Notes from Hebrews 12 and 13

Jesus is the WORD OF FAITH: He shows us a better kingdom!

KEY VERSES:

   ·      12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

  ·      12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

   ·      12:28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

Notes

   ·      Read 12:1-28

   ·      Mirror 12:3 “Ponder how Jesus overcame all the odds stacked against him; this will boost your soul-energy when you feel exhausted.”

   ·      God’s grace does not fail, but we can fail to take advantage of His grace or fail to depend on His grace.

Running the Race

   ·      Get rid of any heavy weights that are slowing us down.

   ·      It’s a long haul and we need patience (Parable of Sower – Matthew 13).

   ·      Keep your eyes on the finish line (Jesus).

   ·      (NTW) Hebrews is keenly aware that the readers are in danger of being weary with all that they are facing, day after day, in terms of threats, persecution, intimidation and mockery from their contemporaries, their neighbors and perhaps their former friends.

Discipline?

   ·      Some discipline, as one of genuine love and care, can be vital for growth.

   ·      I’d rather be disciplined by a loving Father than a distant, faceless, careless, unknown being.

   ·      In the midst of suffering (persecution), we mustn’t blame God. We need to hear the voice of the Father urging us to trust Him more fully, to love Him more deeply.

Growth

   ·      When people are outwardly part of the church, but inwardly are not open to God’s grace and leading, they are capable of producing fruit that can disgrace themselves and the church.

   ·      3^rd Warning of Hebrews (6:4-8 and 10:26-31).

   ·      Isaiah 35:3

Hebrews is making a strong contrast between law and gospel. The old is gone now that the new covenant has been established in and through Jesus. It is better in every way and what the old had in mind all along.

   ·      You need to come into the promised land (chapters 3-4)

   ·      You need to benefit from the ministry of the true high priest (5-7)

   ·      You need to realize that you are within the new covenant, where the ultimate sacrifice has already been made, through which you can approach the presence of God himself (8-10)

   ·      Those in the city are those in whom the lavish grace of God has worked such cleansing, such transformation that they now belong (11-12)

The advantages of being in Christ consist of:

   ·      Living already in the new Jerusalem

   ·      Joining already in praise around the throne of God

   ·      Belonging already to the body of Christ

   ·      Having already no fear of God’s judgment

   ·      Sharing already with the OT believers in the hope of the resurrection

   ·      Possessing already in Jesus a new life

The true God is not tame. He is like a fire. The holiness of God, emphasized throughout the OT ritual, is not undermined by the NT reality that we are invited into his presence. It isn’t that God stopped being holy. The point is that Jesus has opened up a new way… right up to Him. When we remind ourselves of God’s holiness, we begin to fully appreciate the significance of what Jesus did for us.

Parallel Passages:

   ·      Ephesians 3:14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

   ·      Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

   ·      Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

·     

(Mirror 241) If Jesus is the crescendo of God’s final message to mankind, you cannot afford to politely excuse yourself from this conversation. Consider the prominent place that Moses plays in the history of Israel: if you think that Moses or any of the Prophets who spoke with authority on earth deserve honor, how much more should this word that God declared from heaven concerning our Sonship, and our redeemed innocence revealed in the Messiah himself, deserve our undivided attention!

Jesus is the WORD OF FAITH: He shows us a better way to live!

KEY VERSES:

   ·      13:5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper;
    I will not fear;
what can man do to me?” 7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

   ·      13:16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

   ·      13:20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Here in the closing chapter, we find sex, power, money, suffering, and Jesus. Jesus is the one who makes sense of all the rest. He is the same yesterday, today and always. If your faith is firmly rooted in Jesus, then none of the forces that blow people off track need harm you.

Notes

   ·      Read 13:1-25

   ·      Enjoy spiritual fellowship (13:1-6)

o   Loves shows hospitality

o   Love expresses concern

o   Love remains pure

o   Love finds contentment

   ·      Honor spiritual leaders (7-9, 17, 24)

o   Remember them

o   Obey them

o   Greet them

   ·      Gather for spiritual worship (10-16, 18-19)

   ·      Let’s get outside of the old city.

o   There was an increasingly tense situation brewing up for the followers of Jesus in and around Jerusalem itself.

o   The followers of Jesus should be okay to leave the city and it’s temple.

o   Jesus (Matthew 23:37-24:2)

   ·      Mirror 13:22 “My brothers, I have written to you briefly, reminding you or your original identity in order to increase the volume of its resonance in your hearts.”

   ·      (NTW) Here we are at the heart of the mystery of Christian living, Christian leadership and Christian work in the Kingdom. The letter makes it clear that to engage in such work requires effort, determination and patience. The fact that God is at work within us doesn’t take that away. But, as we prepare for the work, engage in it and thank God when it is done, we must never forget that it is, ultimately, something that He does, mysteriously, in and through us.

Parallel Passages:

   ·      Romans 4:25, 8:1, and 8:34

Jesus was a fresh revelation of God. The OT was like a letter or a phone call, now we see him face to face.

If we get our picture of Jesus right, the huge issues in the rest of our life and theology will begin to fall into place.