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

a wise person wins friends.

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

Luke 22:25-27
===============
Luke 22:25-27 (NLT)
---------------
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
===============
-    “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...
===============
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
===============
Colossians 1:15-16 (NLT)
---------------
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)
===============
-    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
===============
2 Corinthians 4:18 (NLT)
---------------
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
===============
“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:
===============
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)
===============
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)
===============
Philippians 2:14-15 (MSG)
---------------
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