05/04/11 - Wednesday Night - Chuck Rozell

Chuck Rozell teaches in this Wednesday evening service.

Chuck Rozell
Wednesday, May 04, 2011

www.mylifegatechurch.com

05/01/11 - Freedom Series PT1 - Tony Sherrill

Tony Sherrill begins the series "Freedom" in this Sunday service.

Freedom PT1
Tony Sherrill
Sunday, May 1, 2011

www.mylifegatechurch.com

Sermon Notes:

AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE

Genesis 1:26-28  dominion = supreme authority to rule

²⁶ Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all^[a] the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸ Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Psalm 8:4-8  vs 6 – you have made him to have dominion over creation

 ⁴ What is man that You are mindful of him,
         And the son of man that You visit him?
 ⁵ For You have made him a little lower than the angels,^[a]
         And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
        
 ⁶ You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
         You have put all things under his feet,
 ⁷ All sheep and oxen—
         Even the beasts of the field,
 ⁸ The birds of the air,
         And the fish of the sea
         That pass through the paths of the seas.

Romans 8:21-22  all creation waits

; ²¹ because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. ²² For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.

Genesis 18:19

For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

Joshua 24:15

But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

Song:  As for Me

Vs 1 – building my own kingdom 

Seeking worthless idols

Idol = setting your affections on worldly things to the point you have a twisted image of right & wrong, life & death

What we should do:

Colossians 3:2

#1 - Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

I John 2:15

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

#2 – Hate what God hates

Proverbs 6:16-19

Arrogance, lying, innocent people being hurt, harmful schemes, evil practices, telling lies about others that stir up dissension among people

Proverbs 8:13

The fear of the LORD is to hate evil;
      Pride and arrogance and the evil way
      And the perverse mouth I hate.
      

Character is in part formed by what we hate.

#3 – Live the resurrected life

Ephesians 3:20

We are not to live a crucified life; we are to live a resurrected life.  I am alive with Christ.

II Peter 1:4

by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

I am forgiven

I am His workmanship

There is no condemnation

I am in right standing with God

I can do all things through Christ

I am more than a conqueror

I am blessed with all spiritual blessings

I am delivered from the power of darkness

I am a son of God

By Jesus’ stripes I’m healed

04/27/11 - Wednesday Night - Chuck Rozell

Chuck Rozell teaches in this Wednesday evening service.

Chuck Rozell
Wednesday, April 27, 2011

www.mylifegatechurch.com

04/24/11 - King Size Life - Pastor Tony Ashmore

Pastor Tony Ashmore teaches on "King Size Life" in this Sunday service.

King Size Life
Pastor Tony Ashmore
Sunday, April 24, 2011

www.mylifegatechurch.com


Sermon Notes:

King Size Life
1 Timothy 6:19 “By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.”

Ephesians 5:14 “Therefore He says: “ Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.”
Big Idea: Are we living the rich and satisfying life Jesus paid the price for us to have or are we living below our potential?  Even if our life is sweet, is it Big Life, King Size Life, or is it the miniature, sample size? 
Jesus came to fix our broken lives.  Do we recognize true life?  Have we settled for less?  Does the life we live look like the one He died to give us?  He rose from the dead—have we?  Let’s arise with Jesus this Easter to a higher level of life. We might even think our life is the best it can be, that it’s pretty good and couldn’t get any better.  Or maybe we have grown accustomed to life below God’s standards and, without even realizing it, we have accepted lower standards.  Have we bought into the old saying, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”  Maybe it is broken and we just don’t see it.  Or maybe we know it’s broken but have quit expecting anything better.  Either way, Easter, the resurrection of Jesus, is all about God invading our lives to show us again what life could and should be.  It’s all about God upsizing our lives to King Size. 

Jesus’ keys to King Size Life:
Mark 12 (the 1st story Jesus tells) A story about a loving landowner who has to go away so he sets all the people on his land up to have a great life.  Instead, through a series of bad choices, the people end up destroyed.  In this foundational story, Jesus gives us some keys to living the Blessed Life.
-   Vs. 1: The Landowner sets everyone up to win, providing everything they need to succeed.  Note he also provided a watch tower—indicating that great life must be guarded, King Size life is the target of thieves (John 10:10)

-   Vs. 2-9: “But the tenant farmers said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’” Don’t take ownership, be a steward.  Treat everything, every part of life, as if it belongs to the Lord, because it does.  Taking ownership turns us into greedy hoarders who begin to believe there is not enough so we have to become selfish to protect our interests.  Being a steward keeps us living generously, recklessly loving others and being loved.

-   Vs. 10-17: (religious leaders seek to trap Jesus) “The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.”  Always understand King Size Life is ours solely because of Jesus, not because of our performance—our ability to keep the rules.  It’s not about keeping a bunch of rules and regulations so we can be ‘good enough’ to have the King Size life—it is about having a relationship with the King, the giver of King Size life.   Can’t have King Size life without a King Size King—the King of Kings!

-   Vs. 18-24:  “Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.”  We need to know the King Size promises given in God’s Word.  We need to make them ours, not just see them as some vague sacred writings that are impersonal and untouchable.  The Bible is a love letter written to each of us by the King.  Believing God can King Size your life begins with knowing His Word for yourself.  The more it becomes part of you, the more you know and see the King’s power at work in your life.

-   Vs. 25-27 “So he is the God of the living, not the dead. You have made a serious error.”  Don’t buy into the lie that God is distant, detached or untouchable.  Those living King Size life know He is with them, that He is actively involved in their lives and are listening for His whispers in their ears.  God’s not dead, and He is not sitting idly by just hoping things work out for us.  He is as close as you want Him to be.  We each have as much of Jesus in our lives as we want.  Living King Size life means we can’t get enough of Him and invite Him into every aspect of our life.  No matter if your life is great or if your life stinks, no matter if you have wasted your life and know it, or think you have done well and take responsibility for it, no matter if you are living for God every day, the story of Easter—the very real historical facts of those events 2000 years ago—are proof God wants us to have the King Size life Jesus died to give us.  Don’t settle for the trial size, the miniature version of life.  Get the King Size version—enough life for you and enough life to share with others.

Check out Jamye’s story of trading up, upsizing her life to King Size.


Decision Point:

This is not a hoax, not some religious junk—Jesus is not a way, a truth, a life—He is THE WAY, THE TRUTH, THE LIFE.  He came to give that life to us, not some counterfeit version of life—real life, rich and satisfying life. 

Peter: Crucified upside down.  Andrew crucified. James beheaded.  John exiled.  Matthew speared to death.  Nathanel beaten and crucified.  Philip crucified.  Thomas speared to death.  Simon crucified.  James stoned to death.  Thaddeus stoned to death. 

No hoax—facts.  History.  Men who knew Jesus was THE WAY, THE TRUTH and THE LIFE.  Men who would not settle for anything less.  Men who told us in the words they left us that King Size life is available to everyone through Jesus Christ and it is the only life worth living for because it is the only life worth dying for. 

Mark 11:22 Message “Jesus was matter-of-fact: "Embrace this God-life. Really embrace it, and nothing will be too much for you.”

04/20/11 - Core Fitness 2 - Impotence - Pastor Tony Ashmore

Pastor Tony Ashmore continues series 2 of "Core Fitness", addressing "speed bumps and overcoming obstacles" with Part 7, "Impotence" in this Wednesday evening service.

Core Fitness 2 PT7

Pastor Tony Ashmore
Wednesday, April 20, 2011

www.mylifegatechurch.com

04/17/11 - The Chain of Grace - Pastor Tony Ashmore

Pastor Tony Ashmore teaches on "The Chain of Grace" in this Sunday service.

The Chain of Grace
Pastor Tony Ashmore
Sunday, April 17, 2011

www.mylifegatechurch.com


Sermon Notes:

The Chain of Grace  (Marie Sims coming across the street to invite us to church)
1 Corinthians 9:19-23 “19 Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. 20 When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law. 21 When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ.  22 When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. 23 I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.”

Genesis 11:27-32 “ 27 This is the account of Terah’s family. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot. 28 But Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, the land of his birth, while his father, Terah, was still living. 31 One day Terah took his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai (his son Abram’s wife), and his grandson Lot (his son Haran’s child) and moved away from Ur of the Chaldeans. He was headed for the land of Canaan, but they stopped at Haran and settled there. 32 Terah lived for 205 years and died while still in Haran.”

12 tribes, 12 disciples—the circle of 12—sociologists believe if you find 12 people functioning healthily in relationships, then those 12 people are connected to anyone in the world within 6 degrees of separation.  A ‘friend of a friend’.  That’s all it takes to reach the world—12 people without relationship wounds.  But enter relational dysfunction into the equation and the number required becomes much larger since our “circle of influence”, our chain of grace, has been shortened by the dysfunction.

The Chain of Grace:

-   Blessed to be a blessing (Abraham—which would have been Terah’s blessing) Is our chain of grace just there for us?  Are we focusing all our grace on us and our needs (grace takers) or do we become others-focused and give grace away (grace givers).  I am waiting “til I get my act together to be a grace-giver”.  See the example of Paul—yesterday I was hunting Christians down and today and I am lifting them up.  Paul called himself the chief of all sinners, yet he considered himself equal to any apostle.  It wasn’t his life credentials that qualified him, it was his grace credentials!  1 Timothy 1:15-19 Message “Here's a word you can take to heart and depend on: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. I'm proof—Public Sinner Number One—of someone who could never have made it apart from sheer mercy. And now he shows me off—evidence of his endless patience—to those who are right on the edge of trusting him forever.”
-   What’s the weak link in our chain of grace?  Where is the breakdown when the whole world needs grace?  Our relational wounds, like Terah’s, shrink our chain, our circle of influence.  We define who is safe and limit our chain to those.  Studies show that most Christians become ineffective in spreading the Gospel after about 1 ½ years because they have invited everyone they know to church.  A short chain—instead of continually adding links to our chain, we have a ‘weak link’ that keeps our chain shortened.  We extend the chain, move outside our comfort zone, live dangerously and it looks like our chain is lengthened.  Then a trigger event hits our relational dysfunction, our relational wound, and our chain snaps, leaving those we were designed and assigned to reach (Ephesians 2:10) without the grace we have to give.  We can’t get them “out of the ditch” because of the weak link in our chain.  Sometimes it is a stranger, sometimes an acquaintance, sometimes a family member, sometimes our own children, sometimes our spouses.


2 Corinthians 12:9 “Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”
The blood of Christ will turn your weak link into your link to the world you are called to change.  Jesus will take the thing satan has used to keep you from seeing your destiny, the weakness he has exploited to shrink your chain-the weak link you would rather not talk about—and turn it into a “bragging place”—look what the Lord has done.  If He would do it for me, I know He will do it for you!  Only the blood, trusting in His power, will do that.  No psychological fix, no hocus-pocus, just a simple act of faith—believing in the power of His blood for you personally—not just to wash away sin, but to remove the side-effects of it.  Our Chain of Grace, those people who need us or will need us, depends on His power. 

04/13/11 - Core Fitness 2 - Insecurity - Pastor Tony Ashmore

Pastor Tony Ashmore continues series 2 of "Core Fitness", addressing "speed bumps and overcoming obstacles" with Part 6, "Insecurity" in this Wednesday evening service.

Core Fitness 2 PT6

Pastor Tony Ashmore
Wednesday, April 13, 2011

www.mylifegatechurch.com