Pastor Michael Adams teaches on "Second is First Loser" in this Sunday morning celebration.Second is First Loser
Pastor Michael Adams
Sunday, June 24, 2012
www.mylifegatechurch.com
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Sermon Notes:
Second is First Loser
- 66 books, 40 authors over 1600 years
- central theme is Jesus
- never contradicts itself
- "thus says the Lord" 3000 times
The Word of God must be the ultimate authority in our lives. Having it second or just another part of life won’t work. Knowing and living a life that really matters is grounded on the bible’s divine inspiration, its infallible authority and its completeness in form and content.
Matthew 4: 1-4
Next Jesus was taken into the wild by the Spirit for the Test. The Devil was ready to give it. Jesus prepared for the Test by fasting forty days and forty nights. That left him, of course, in a state of extreme hunger, which the Devil took advantage of in the first test: "Since you are God's Son, speak the word that will turn these stones into loaves of bread." Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: "It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God's mouth."
- We are presented with this same challenge in life. Will we look to other things for nourishment and fulfillment?
- Jesus was at one of the most desperate times of his life and he declares that real life comes from the Words of God
Matthew 7:24-27
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Making the Word the Ultimate Authority
John 1:1-5
1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.
*The Word is a person, Jesus Christ
- The religious leaders were looking for life in scriptures and missed that life was standing right in front of them.
- We are very much wired to read and become doers. The supernatural part of the Word, life transformation, is a result of Jesus, the incarnate Word, living in and through us.
- The writings of 40 authors, 66 books over 1500 years all converge in Jesus Christ
- The bible it self is a tool that come alive through my relationship with God
John 5:39 (MSG)
39-40"You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you'll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me! And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren't willing to receive from me the life you say you want.
John 5:39 (NLT)
39 “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me. 40 Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.
*The Word is foundational not additional
- It’s not a matter of God simply suggesting some nice things to help us in life
- We make the Word of God a piece of the house rather than the foundation of the whole thing
- Take him at his Word, literally. Will we trust him with the whole thing?
- Our way of thinking mixed with God’s thinking doesn’t make a good concoction. It’s still stinking thinking.
- His promise is to watch over His word to perform it, not ours. (Jer. 1:12)
- Our culture teaches to keep an open mind yet God clearly requires us to serve him with absolute single-heartedness. (Luke 4:8)
- There is such thing as absolute truth and it’s found in Jesus
Luke 6: 46-49 (MSG)
46-47"Why are you so polite with me, always saying 'Yes, sir,' and 'That's right, sir,' but never doing a thing I tell you? These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on. 48-49"If you work the words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who dug deep and laid the foundation of his house on bedrock. When the river burst its banks and crashed against the house, nothing could shake it; it was built to last. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a dumb carpenter who built a house but skipped the foundation. When the swollen river came crashing in, it collapsed like a house of cards. It was a total loss.
Filtering everything through the Word
Illus. A/C filter
Like a filter on an AC unit, if it doesn’t have one, or the proper one, it will eventually break. The filter is the first thing that the unclean air passes through and causes the system to deliver clean pure air on the other side. If the Word is the first and only filter, you can have the rich and satisfying life- clean air. A filter that never clogs up and never needs to be replaced. Everything we think and do is processed through it so that only truth comes out. This is the way we align ourselves with the will of God.
2 Timothy 2:15
15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
1. Ask
- Ask and allow the Holy Spirit to be your guide
John 16:13
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
2. Read
- Read and study attentively and with intention
- Many times there is an absence of attention because there is little intention
- Read on purpose
1 Timothy 4:15
15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.
3. Plan
- Make a plan
- New SOAP quarter beginning this week
4. Share
- We have the responsibility to all mankind, to communicate the Word of God through our witness and service
- When the Word of God has preeminence in our lives it supernaturally flows through us to others. This is a natural result of communion with Jesus.
- When our thinking is filtered through the Word then people around us will experience life
2 Timothy 3 16-17 (MSG)
There's nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.
Thouroughly equipped for every good work
Equipped:
Physician Word meaning- to set a broken bone, replace a displaced limb, mended or repaired
1. healed and mended
2. Find where they fit
3. handle life, cracks, managing life
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