Sunday March 4th: The Struggle for Simplicity (Colossians Pt.4)

Colossians Pt. 4: The Struggle for Simplicity
Chapter 1:28 – 2:10

So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ.
Proclaim, Convict, & Inform EVERYONE… Led by God’s Wisdom (H.S.)
We are guided in our own discipleship and the discipleship of others by The H.S.
This is how we create a culture of discipleship (every generation builds their own)
We have a lofty goal: All followers of Jesus Christ growing to maturity (‘Perfect’)

That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me. I want you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for many other believers who have never met me personally.
The ‘That’s’ here is the vision of disciple building
Do we have a vision of ‘Biblical Disciple Building’?
That vision is dependent on Christ’s power, not our programs and organization
It doesn’t just serve our own church but even those we do not know personally
Paul had a special burden… should we have some burden?

I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
What Christ’s Disciples are to live like, that means US… NOW!
Focus on Christ…
Author and Perfecter
The Way, The Truth and The Life

The person of Jesus Christ, in all that He is & has done & will do is our simple focus

I am telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments. For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you. And I rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong.
Purpose in focus on Christ: (knowing the truth is the cure for deception)
The idea of ‘The Church of Christ’s Disciples’ all being one body with one goal

And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
It takes God’s power and faith in it to get ‘Saved’, same with discipleship
Root your life on Christ: Roots are the source of growth & stability
Strong rooting (foundation) in the person of Jesus Christ is the plan
Doing it right will make us thankful to God

Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.
We need this warning just like they did…
Our ‘Media / Entertainment’ is Corrupt, Godless and Destructive

For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
Everything we need to know about God is contained in The Christ of Scripture
Being united with Christ by God’s Spirit is all we need: Connected to the Top!

APPLICATION QUESTIONS:
What is your role in ‘presenting others perfect in their relationship to Christ’?

What are opportunities to participate in building disciples personally & corporately?

How might you be more intentional in your focus on THE PERSON of Jesus Christ?

What are ways to strengthen your faith in Christ?

What would it look like to build more of your life on ‘Christ as Lord’?

In what ways are you letting ‘Wisdom of this World’ influence you rather than Christ?

What things can keep you from union with Christ?

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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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