Sermons About Needs
Pt. 2, Start A Change Reaction
This message talks about how to see the needs around you, assess what you have to help, give what you have to Jesus and then watch Him multiply it.
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Envy
Envy is a lack of faith in the good things that God has planned for us. This is a call to trust in God, rest in God, and delight in God above all else, knowing that if we do he will satisfy our every want and need.
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Meet simple needs
Service can sound hard, even intimidating. This message reminds us that even the simple things make a big difference. Simple things change the life of the person you serve--and they change you.
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My Brother's Keeper?
Last week at Sovereign King, we talked about living with a sense that God might do great things among us. I even went so far as to describe that feeling as a holy despair that God might not. Those great things of God require of us a necessary Godliness so that we might best be used by God when those opportunities arise. We also talked about the fact that if we aren't preparing for Godliness, then we assume that God will do not great things among us, and He probably won't. And the hope was that we would be radically transformed in the image of Christ this year. I encourage you all to pray with a holy despair that God would do great things among us. Despair that God might pass us by. We should love each other and our community with a radical love that causes people to be uncontrollably attracted to this community but ultimately to Jesus Christ. This week, John continues describing what the life of Godliness does and does not look like, and John is going to use the story of Can and Abel to help frame that picture. Towards that end, I think it is helpful to remind ourselves about the story of Cain and Abel. Abel was a kind hearted but more than likely a pretty smelly shepherd, and his brother, Cain was more than likely an athletic, young farmer. Well, the time came for both of them to make an offering to God. Cain brought the fruit of the ground and Abel brought the firstborn of his flock. Now when you read Genesis 4, we see that God found favor in Abel's offerings and not in Cain's. Maybe Cain didn't bring the best of the fruit of the ground. Maybe he only brought brown bananas and moldy peaches. But we know that Abel found favor before God because giving the first born is always a step of faith. Giving the first born says, "I have no guarantee of another sheep giving birth, but I will give this one that I have to God in faith. Essentially, Abel's offering required faith. Cain's didn't. (Always another reminder that if what we give doesn't hurt it a bit, it ain't faith). God ultimately rejects Cain's offering, so Cain decides to go off and pout about it essentially becoming the world's first bratty child. God, ever gracious and patient, gives Cain this ominous warning. He says, "Cain, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is to overtake you. You however, must overtake and rule it." What startling words. Sin is like an intruder hiding in your house waiting to seize you and rob you. Sin is the dark character of every horror movie ever written sitting just out of sight but just within your reach. However, Cain could not get beyond the jealousy he had over his brother, so sin ruled Cain and Cain murdered his brother Abel. Cain wanted to be good and righteous on his terms and not God's. He wanted to offer God His second best and have that count as if it was his first. God confronted him and asked, "Where is your brother Abel?" Cain response was, "Am I my brother's keeper?" The obvious answer was, "Yes, you are your brother's keeper." So, with that story as our backdrop, this week we are going to ask two questions as they relate to what Godliness looks like: -- What does it look like for you to be your brother's keeper? -- What does that look like specifically at Sovereign King Church?
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Philippians 4:15-23 - Getting the Best Return on Your Investment
An Abundance mentality is a frame of mind in which a person believes there is "enough for everyone". It is contrasted with the scarcity mentality, which is founded on the idea that there is a lack in life, that opportunities are few and far between and given a finite amount of resources a person must protect what they have from others, This is, of course, useful for marketing because if you can convince people they are lacking something, then you can get them to buy that something. Clearly this is what our society is built upon. And Christians who have fallen prey to this mentality - to put it bluntly - are pathetic-lousy givers - not only in how much they give but in how they give. On the contrary, those Christians who have an abundance mentality have a contentment and a joy about giving that is alien to our society. It is this type of mentality that Paul had and also the type of mentality the Philippians had and it is they type of mentality we are to have as well. When we have an abundance mentality we rise above our circumstances - whether we have little or plenty. We are able to give sacrificially and faithfully and experience immense joy as we do it because we understand what we're really doing - we're investing wisely. We're giving as joint owners in the mission of Jesus.
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