Worship Service 1/3/2022 click here
1/3/2021
Metanoia
Changing Your Life By Changing Your Mind
…to change one’s mind or purpose; In the NT it always conveys a change for the better and of repentance (changing our thinking about) sin. The word is found in the Gospels nine times, in Acts five times, in the Apocalypse twelve times…
Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old Testament and New Testament Words.
Discouragement Because Of Circumstance Deafens Us To God’s Love
Exodus 6:6-9 I am the LORD and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as My own people and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, Who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.'” Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage.
Psalm 42:5-6 Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God! For now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember You!
2 Corinthians 11:23-28 I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move.
I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
Always Remember That God Loves And Cares For Us As We Serve Him In His Work
2 Corinthians 4:1 God has given us this ministry and in it He has shown us His compassion; and so…WE DO NOT BECOME DISCOURAGED.
Be Authentic (Be who you really are)
2 Corinthians 4:2 But we have turned away from secret and shameful ways. We use no trickery, we do not change the teaching of God. We teach the truth plainly, showing everyone who we (really) are. Then they can know in their hearts what kind of people we are in God’s sight.
Understand That Our Message Is Not Ours, It Is God’s
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 …if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Remember That Life And Ministry Is Not About You
2 Corinthians 4:5-6 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake (An Eternal Motivation). For God, Who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Accept That You Have Human Limitations
2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Allow God To Use Your Suffering To Help Other People
2 Corinthians 4:8-9 We often suffer, but we are never crushed. Even when we don’t know what to do, we never give up. In times of trouble, God is with us, and when we are knocked down, we get up again.
2 Corinthians 4:10-15 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
Recharge Yourself
2 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
Keep An Eternal Perspective
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Hebrews 12:1-3 …throw off everything that hinders you & the sin that so easily entangles, run with perseverance the race marked out for you. Fix your eyes on Jesus, the Author & Perfecter of our faith, Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame & sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him Who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary & lose heart!