Sunday 2/18 @ Midtown Church

What Christ Jesus Did and Who He is

Colossians 1:11-20

We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need.

May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light.

For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.

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. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.

Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything.

For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

Realities of those who are Disciples of Jesus Christ:
They draw strength from the glorious power of Christ Jesus.
They are joyful based on God making them His people.
They have been rescued, freed and forgiven.
They see Christ Jesus as GOD.
They experience Jesus Christ as the center of all creation (seen and unseen).
They believe Jesus Christ to be preexistent of and sovereign over all creation.
They follow him as the head of the body they are part of, always putting Him first.
They are reconciled to God by Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death.

Application Questions:
How do you connect with Christ’s power to strengthen you with endurance & patience?

What are some ways you can thank God and experience joy?

In what ways do you thank God for rescuing you from the ‘Kingdom of Darkness?

How would you describe Christ’s role as ‘The Center of All Creation’?

What experience do you have with the ‘Unseen World’?

As part of the body that Christ is the head of, how do you & should you relate to Him?

How do you live out the reality of being reconciled to God through Christ Jesus?

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Sunday 2/11 @ Midtown Church: ‘A Prescription for Growth’

COLOSSIANS Pt. 1: A Prescription for Growth

Colossians 1:1-10

This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy. We are writing to God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. May God our Father give you grace and peace.

We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.

This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.

You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf. He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.

So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.

Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

Paul’s Five Point Prescription for Spiritual Growth / Christ Discipleship

#1. Receive Grace / Experience Christ’s Forgiveness

#2. Expect God to work in you, build your hope by recognizing HE does.

#3. Practice loving others by God’s Spirit (loving the unlovable)

#4. Keep asking God to reveal Himself and spiritual wisdom to you through others

#5. Live out what He is growing in you: Relational / Experiential Reality

Application Questions:

In your normal week how do you receive God’s grace and peace?

How does the Reality of Jesus Christ help you live with confident hope?

How is the Gospel ‘bearing fruit’ in your life? Are you continuing to change?

Who is an example to follow of someone with ‘Spirit Given’ love for others?

Who prays that God would make you more Spiritually Mature’? Who do U pray this 4?

Who could you approach to help you grow in spiritual wisdom and understanding?

What is an intentional change to the ‘way you live’ that will grow your discipleship?

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Sunday 2/4 @ Midtown Church

Discipleship Ownership

Luke 14:26-27
“If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.”

Luke 14:28
“But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?”

Philippians 2:12-13
Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

Application Questions:
Where are you W/ making Jesus #1 in your life? What are ‘Costs’ you would consider?

How would you rate the past ‘Results of Your Salvation’?

How would you rate your trust that God is at work in you so you can please Him?

What areas of your life might you become more of disciplined in?

How can you ‘Get in Training’ for the ‘Eternal Prizes’ of Disciple Building?

What Goals can you set to address you discipleship needs?

What are some initiatives that will move you toward those goals?

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Sunday 1/28 @ Midtown Church: ‘The Art of Discipleship’

The Art of Discipleship: Doing it Jesus Way… Biblical Disciple Building Principals: Communal  /  Progressive  /  Practical 5 Key Initiatives: Prayer  /  Relationship  /  Situations  /  Content  /  Accountability Prayer: Ephesians 6:18 And […]

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This Sunday Message at Midtown Church Discipleship Because Maturity Matters

God desires us to become mature as disciples of Jesus Christ

Matthew 28:18-20
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

We pursue maturity in order to reproduce that maturity.

2 Timothy 2:1-2
Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.

We can follow a process revealed in Scripture to produce maturity.

2 Peter 1:5-9
In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

We will consider maturity to be a spiritual transformed life.

Romans 5:2-5
Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Galatians 5:22-23a
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

We can create a flexible, relational, progressive, discipleship culture.

Ephesians 4:11-13
Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

Romans 14:17-19
For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up.

Application Questions:
How might you grow in your commitment to Biblical Discipleship?                         In what areas do you need to mature so you can contribute to disciple building?
What is keeping you from reproducing your faith in others?
In what ways are you currently growing, in what areas are you stuck?
How has God transformed you in the past?
What are ways you would like to see Midtown help people grow?
How can you envision your involvement with disciple building here @ Midtown?

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Midtown Church Sunday 1/14: Your Word For 2018

Join us This Sunday @ Midtown Church as Woody Johnson Shares a message on ‘Your Word for 2018’

Choosing A WORD For The Year!

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true” (Revelation 21:5).

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:18-19).

How to determine your WORD?

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

1. PRAY
“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead” (Philippians 3:13).

2. ASK
“Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19).

3. WAIT and LISTEN.
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).

“You crown the year with your goodness, and your paths drip with abundance.” Ps. 65:11

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Midtown Church Sunday Jan. 7th: Seven Eternal Resolutions

This Sunday @ Midtown Church we will walk through Hebrews 13:1-8

7 Eternal Resolutions (Hebrews 13:1-8)

Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!

Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.

Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.

Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?”

Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.

#1 Resolve to TREAT PEOPLE with love like they were family; Eternal Fellowship!

#2 Resolve to HAVE EMPATHY for the marginalized; It takes Eternal HEART!

#3 Resolve to HONOR ‘Biblical / Judo-Christian Morality; No ‘Spiritual Neutrality’!

#4 Resolve to TRUST God’s provision, not the world’s economy; Eternal Choice!

#5 Resolve to GROW in Christ the way people you admire grew; Reproduce Eternity!

#6 Resolve to LIVE from God’s grace, not ‘Spiritual Fads’; Follow The Eternal One!

#7 Resolve to BE OPEN to Christ as much as possible; It starts & ends W/ Christ!

 

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Midtown Church New Years Eve

Sunday 12/31/2017 @ Midtown Church:

Looking to the Future in Light of Christ

Luke 2:21-22: Bringing The Christ Child to The Temple
After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord…

Luke 2:25-32: The Prophecy of Simeon
At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, Simeon was there.

He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying, “Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised. I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people. He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!”

Luke 2:36-38: The Prophecy of Anna
Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four.

She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.

Application Questions:
As you start a new year what are three ways you can be more obedient?

What spiritual things do you look forward to this coming year?

How might you be more available to The Spirit’s scheduling of ‘Divine Appointments?

Describe what it means to live ‘In Light Of Christ’?

How might you recognize the spiritually obvious things in your life better in 2018?

What are some ways you can be more persistent in your approach to seeking God?

How might you more intentionally share the reality of Jesus in 2018?

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The Essential Value of Generosity

1 Corinthians 8:1-15

Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity.

For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will.  They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem.

They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.

So we have urged Titus, who encouraged your giving in the first place, to return to you and encourage you to finish this ministry of giving. Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us—I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving.

I am not commanding you to do this. But I am testing how genuine your love is by comparing it with the eagerness of the other churches. You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.

Here is my advice: It would be good for you to finish what you started a year ago. Last year you were the first who wanted to give, and you were the first to begin doing it. Now you should finish what you started. Let the eagerness you showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving.

Give in proportion to what you have. Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have.

Of course, I don’t mean your giving should make life easy for others and hard for yourselves. I only mean that there should be some equality. Right now you have plenty and can help those who are in need. Later, they will have plenty and can share with you when you need it. In this way, things will be equal.

As the Scriptures say, “Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough.” (Manna)

A Prayer

1 Timothy 6:17-19

Lord, teach us who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in our money, which is so unreliable. May our trust be in you God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Compel us to use our resources to do good. May we be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. Lord we know this is your will that we store up the treasure of ‘Generous Living’ as a good foundation for the future so that we may experience true life.

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The Essential Value of Prayer

Today we gloriously welcomed seven members into the Midtown Church family. Together we act as one body. None of us can fulfill God’s purpose alone; we do it in fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

God’s family is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. – 1 Timothy 3:15B

C.S. Lewis taught us that the word membershiphas Christian origin. Member is from the Latin membrum, meaning ‘limb.’ As Woody Johnson opined at service today, we function better as a church when we work together, like a body with all of its limbs intact.

   Together, not separated, we are His body. – 1 Corinthians 12:27

Today’s teaching was the third part in a series about the culture of Midtown Church. Pastor Todd enlightened us with three critical components of understanding prayer, summarized here.

Gravity of prayer. (Revelations 5: 6-9)

Because of Christ’s great sacrifice, we are connected to God and have been granted the gift of being able to pray to Him, converse with Him. In Revelations 5, Jesus is a sacrificial lamb. When he retrieves the scroll, he is agreeing to take on the job of being everyone’s savior. At that point, the living creatures fall down in worship and offer up their prayers to our Lord.

Heart of prayer. (Mark 11: 24-26)

What is at the heart of prayer? Forgiveness. Our relationship with God was bought by His forgiveness of us. We must both experience and embrace forgiveness. Before God can forgive us, we must forgive those who have hurt us. Our forgiveness must come first. This daunting task requires active forgiveness. Our model for doing that is Jesus Christ himself. It is by God’s grace that we are able to forgive.

Direction for prayer in your life. (Matthew 6: 6-8)

Pray the Bible. By making scripture the foundation of our prayer, we infuse God’s will and His word into our prayer. Read scripture. Say it out loud. Understand its meaning. Imagine yourself at the scene. Contemplate what is happening at the scene. Repeat the words. Sing the Psalms! God wants us to pray in his Word–it is the perfect guidebook to praying and to living God’s will.

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