08/28/11 - Loving the Unloveable - Pastor Tony Ashmore

Pastor Tony Ashmore continues the series "GO!" with part 4, "Loving the Unloveable" in this Sunday morning celebration.

GO Part 4
Pastor Tony Ashmore
Sunday, August 28, 2011

www.mylifegatechurch.com


Sermon Notes:

Matthew 6:12
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Matthew 6:12 (NLT)
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and forgive us our sins,

as we have forgiven those who sin against us.

Romans 9:20
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Romans 9:20 (MSG)
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Who in the world do you think you are to second-guess God? Do you for one moment suppose any of us knows enough to call God into question? Clay doesn't talk back to the fingers that mold it, saying, "Why did you shape me like this?"

Matthew 10:5
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Matthew 10:5 (MSG)
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Jesus sent his twelve harvest hands out with this charge:

Becoming Unloveable—Making it Hard for People to Love You
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-   Jonah 1:3 Running from God because we often run to the strangest, most hazardous places and make the dumbest, most irrational decisions.

Jonah 1:3
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Jonah 1:3 (NLT)
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But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.

Becoming Unloveable (continued)
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-   Jonah 1:2 Just being downright mean.

Jonah 1:2
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Jonah 1:2 (NLT)
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“Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”

Becoming Unloveable (continued)
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-  Jonah 1:17
   Jonah 2:2
   Jonah 2:8
Running from God = Running from Grace.  We become graceless and hard to love, arrogant, prideful.

Jonah 1:17
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Jonah 1:17 (NLT)
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Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.

Jonah 2:2
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Jonah 2:2 (NLT)
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He said,

“I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble,

and he answered me.

I called to you from the land of the dead,

and Lord, you heard me!

Jonah 2:8
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Jonah 2:8 (NLT)
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Those who worship false gods

turn their backs on all God’s mercies.

Becoming Unloveable (continued)
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-   Jonah 4:2   It wasn’t fair!

Jonah 4:2
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Jonah 4:2 (NLT)
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So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people.

Becoming Unloveable (continued)
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-   Jonah 4:10-11  Forgetting what really matters, what really counts?

Jonah 4:10-11
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Jonah 4:10-11 (NLT)
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Then the Lord said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly.  But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”

So What?
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-   Who are our Ninevites? To whom do you find it hard to extend grace?
-   How am I making myself “hard to love”?  In what areas am I running from God?  Where are the “graceless” areas where grace has been replaced with pride, arrogance and justification?

Luke 7:47
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Luke 7:47 (NLT)
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“I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.”

08/21/11 - Take Me To Your Leader - Pastor Tony Ashmore

Pastor Tony Ashmore continues the series "GO!" with part 3, "Take Me To Your Leader" in this Sunday morning celebration.

GO Part 3
Pastor Tony Ashmore
Sunday, August 21, 2011

www.mylifegatechurch.com


Sermon Notes:

Proverbs 11:30
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Proverbs 11:30 (NLT)
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The seeds of good deeds become a tree of life;

a wise person wins friends.

Take Me to Your Leader
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Like the old scene from science fiction movies where the invaders have bewitched the people causing them to say “Take me to your leader”, we are on a mission on earth.  Our goal is for people to say to us “Take me to your leader”.

We all have people in our lives who we know they would be better off if they knew Jesus.  What would you give for their soul?  What would you give to see them living the life Jesus dies to give them?  What would it be worth to you for them to say to you, “Take me to your leader”? Jesus said we must be willing to count the costs so we can finish well.  So we can be ready and set to GO!

Paul’s story:

Romans 9:2-4
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Romans 9:2-4 (NLT)
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My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief  for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them.  They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children. God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises.

What are our “costs”?
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-   Who, or what, we are following, must be worth following.

Philippians 3:8
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Philippians 3:8 (NLT)
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Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ

What are our “costs”?... (continued)
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-   It must be clear who we are following.  Do others know my leader by watching me?  Do my decisions reflect Him?  Does my life look different because He is my leader?

1 Corinthians 4:16-17
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1 Corinthians 4:16-17 (NLT)
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So I urge you to imitate me.

That’s why I have sent Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord. He will remind you of how I follow Christ Jesus, just as I teach in all the churches wherever I go.

What are our “costs”?... (continued)
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-   We must be “follow-able”—can others follow our lead and find the leader?  (They will find a leader, but will it be The Leader?)

1 Corinthians 11:1
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1 Corinthians 11:1 (NLT)
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And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.

What are our “costs”?... (continued)
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- When we blow it, when we are un-follow-able, be “follow-able” in finding our way back quickly.  Model repentance and forgiveness.

08/17/11 - Fasting - Pastor Tony Ashmore

Pastor Tony Ashmore teaches on "Fasting" in this Wednesday evening celebration.

Fasting

Pastor Tony Ashmore

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

www.mylifegatechurch.com

08/14/11 - My Life Stinks - Pastor Tony Ashmore

Pastor Tony Ashmore continues the series "GO!" with part 2, "My Life Stinks..." in this Sunday morning celebration.

GO Part 2
Pastor Tony Ashmore
Sunday, August 14, 2011

www.mylifegatechurch.com


Sermon Notes:

My Life Stinks...


Proverbs 11:30
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Proverbs 11:30 (NLT)
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The seeds of good deeds become a tree of life;

a wise person wins friends.

Proverbs 11:30 NKJV
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Proverbs 11:30 (NKJV)
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The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
And he who wins souls is wise.

Luke 22:25-27
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Luke 22:25-27 (NLT)
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Jesus told them, “In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’  But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant.  Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as one who serves.

Kingdom life is an others-focused life
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-    “Those who humble themselves will be great in the Kingdom…” Humble yourself doesn’t mean to put yourself down, it means you lift others up.  Others-focused

-    “Those who hear and obey, and teach others to do the same will be great in the Kingdom…”  Live for the good of others.  Others-focused

-    “The greatest in the Kingdom are servants.” The highest level in the Kingdom is occupied by those who find the most people to serve.  Others-focused.

-    Example: Mother Theresa at prayer breakfast in Washington as guest of administration.  She spoke with authority that could not be disputed.  She challenged the doctrine of abortion in a way that no one argued against her.

The Kingdom is eternal...
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The Kingdom is eternal—it is now, not something I am waiting for.  “I have spent my life in low places, so I will be great when I get in the Kingdom.”

-    We are in the Kingdom now.

-    The Kingdom of God (which we cannot see) has greater power than the kingdoms of this world, which we can see. The things in this world are subject to the authority of the Kingdom of God.

Colossians 1:15-16
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Colossians 1:15-16 (NLT)
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Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.

He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,

for through him God created everything

in the heavenly realms and on earth.

He made the things we can see

and the things we can’t see—

such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.

Everything was created through him and for him.

The Kingdom is eternal... (continued)
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-    There are traps, tricks, designed to rob us of that authority, to keep us from walking in Rich and Satisfying Life.  To turn us from “others-focused” to “me-focused”.

-    US Average Income: $35K, The rest of the world combined: $6500, Mexico: $4300, Nicaragua: $1010, Uganda: $460

-    We pray for things the rest of the world wouldn’t even think of asking for:  another car, fashionable clothes, a new tennis racquet

2 Corinthians 4:18
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2 Corinthians 4:18 (NLT)
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So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

Story of David Ring
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“I have Cerebal Palsy, what’s your problem?”  Oxygen deprived, left on table to die for 18 minutes but wouldn’t give up.  Orphaned at 14 and moved from foster home to foster home.

So What:
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1.   God cares about your situation.  He has not forgotten you or left you alone.  He is at work to bring good—(to those pursuing His purpose in their lives).  Don’t be tricked into thwarting His work on your behalf by abandoning your calling, your purpose, your destiny to fall into self-pity and complaining.

    a.   You can make it.  You will not be overwhelmed.  There is a way of escape and there is nothing you are facing that God has not equipped you to overcome. 1 Corinthians 10:13 “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”

So What: (continued)
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2.   We are called to “GO”, not stay.  Regardless of what is going on in our lives, there are people whose eternal destiny is hanging in the balance.  We must stay focused on the eternal.  We must “encourage ourselves in the Lord”.  We are on assignment, on mission, every day.  We are given a task greater than anything or any dream we can develop on our own.  We are given the task of winning souls, of changing someone’s eternal direction by causing them to stop and think.  Our actions, our words, our lives are the tools.

Philippians 2:14-15 (MSG)
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Philippians 2:14-15 (MSG)
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Do everything readily and cheerfully-no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night

08/10/11 - Prayer - Tony Sherrill

Tony Sherrill teaches on "Prayer" in this Wednesday evening celebration.

Prayer
Pastor Tony Ashmore
Wednesday, August 10, 2011

www.mylifegatechurch.com

08/07/11 - GO Part 1 - Pastor Tony Ashmore

Pastor Tony Ashmore begins a new series entitled "GO" in this Sunday morning celebration.

GO Part 1
Pastor Tony Ashmore
Sunday, August 7, 2011

www.mylifegatechurch.com


Sermon Notes:

GO!

Proverbs 11:30 (NKJV) “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.”

Luke 14:23 So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full.  (Message: Whoever you find, drag them in.)


3 Reasons People are Lost or Away from God

Luke 15:4-7 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!” 

-   The sheep got lost.  The man had nothing to do with it.  Pre-occupied.  Distracted. Wandered off.  Too late when the sheep realized it was lost, separated from the flock.  Panic time, fear, helplessness which leads to hopelessness.  (Story of Jeff at Wickes)

Luke 15:8-10 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”

-   The woman misplaced the coin.  She was careless with the coin.  Took it for granted.  Didn’t understand its worth and value.  Coin probably was in a dark place, separated from the others.  Out of sight, out of mind.  Gathered dust, grime.  It’s worth never changed, no matter how many roaches crawled across it, no matter how much dirt and grime gathered on it, no matter how deep into the crevice it fell.  It’s worth never changed.  She was careless with it.  Many people are away from God because others were careless with their lives.  (Story of the $150 I found in the cabinet that had been there for several years.  It didn’t ask to be put on a shelf, hidden away, forgotten.  When I found it, it was like a bonus, even though it had been mine all along.)

Luke 15:12-20 “A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.  “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’ “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.

-   The son miscalculated—he thought life would be better, more fun, more adventurous without the father.  He thought the life his father had chosen was not the “good life”, not the life for him.  He knew there was better life out there, a life away from his father, a life not filled with the choices and boundaries he saw in his father’s life.  He miscalculated.  Note: “When he came to his senses”.  First pride—“I was right.  I have found the good life.”  Then pride resists the truth—this life is not as good as I thought it would be.  Then pride rejects repentance: “I don’t want to admit I was wrong so I would rather hurt than admit it.”  Pride is replaced by feelings of unworthiness, guilt, shame, “I blew it so I deserve to be rejected.”  His father never de-valued him. 


So What:

Isaiah 6:8-9 ‘Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.” And he said, “Yes, go…”

2 types of people here today:

*   Those who fit one of these descriptions and are away from God
*   Those who have fit one of these descriptions, were away from God, are now found and are called to GO help those who are still lost.

Both types need to hear the Father today-

*   Some need quit wandering. 
*   Others need to forgive those who have been careless with your life and come to the Father who has never rejected you. 
*   And still others need to drop the pride, admit you miscalculated, and come back to the Father who has never given up on you and welcomes you with open arms.
*   Individually, we need to feel the Father’s heart for His kids who are lost.
*   As a church, we need to promise Him and each other we will always make this place a safe place for those trying to find their way home.

08/03/11 - 4 Laws of the Harvest - Pastor Tony Ashmore

Pastor Tony Ashmore teaches on "4 Laws of the Harvest" in this Wednesday evening celebration.

4 Laws of the Harvest
Pastor Tony Ashmore
Wednesday, August 3, 2011

www.mylifegatechurch.com

07/31/11 - The 3 D's - Kent Henry

Special guest Kent Henry teaches on "The 3 D's" in this Sunday morning celebration.

The 3 D's
Sunday, July 31, 2011

www.mylifegatechurch.com