Another Friday Lifted Service

October 07, 2011

scriptures:
Luke 1: 26-35; Matthew 1:18-25; Jeremiah 1:5; Romans 11:29; Ephesians 2:10; Matthew 28; Mark 13:11; Romans 10:14

-You've been chosen. Therefore you have been equipped with everything you need (through the Holy Spirit) to minister to the multitudes
*Think of 2Timothy 1:7 before you get ready to minister to people [if fear is something that stops you from sharing the Gospel] and read Mark13:11 [if you deal with insecurities like what to say when you minister, etc]

*Romans 10:14 = your motivating force in discipling
--> Romans 8:35
         *We have to be crazy in love with God in order to follow christ. I want to make my life look so much like Christ's life so that I can live forever with him.

- The only way you know Christ is through the word.
**Question: What are some things that tend to separate us from Him?
               our own physical plans - music - friends - guilt - unforgiving heart - insecurities - etc

-Paul is talking to us; he is asking us what shall separate us from the love of God?! It's really just a rhetorical question b/c NOTHING can separate us from the love of Christ!
     Tribulation= distress, turmoil, dire or extreme tragedy and sadness.
*even though i'm feeling this way[insert emotion here], God is still in love with me!
(I no longer live but Christ lives in me)

--> God is still amazing; He is still good despite your circumstances!! For God's sake, we are being persecuted all day long! We may not be killed physically, but we are persecuted by words, etc. We can't do all the things of the world b/c we know that it doesn't please him.
              - I'd rather be treated like a sheep, than BE a sheep without Christ. (*Without a good shepherd, we're treading on very dangerous territory)

-suicide= allowing affliction to separate us from God

*Paul doesn't say what turns GOD away from us, but what WE do to separate ourselves from HIM! God is ALWAYS there!! He'll never leave you nor forsake you. He won't give up on you, even when everyone else around you does.
                 ---> It's not enough for God to be crazy in love with us! We have to reciprocate that same love back to him!
**Question: Are you in love with him back?
          -it takes a leap of faith. Are you crazy enough to not only believe in Him, but be radical enough to love him back by sacrificing your life to Him?